Darkar Chronicles: Winx Club
by godisme
Summary: In the Magic Dimension there are many timelines, this one is the home of one timeline: the tale of excitement and adventure: of a world different from canon and where the Winx and Trix fight against the forces of evil together. OCXMassharem, Sky bashing a lot of it for some obvious reasons. Erasiel Darkar is the Main character, now reformatted
1. Prologue

Darker Chronicles: Winx Club

Prologue: Secrets of the Past

Earth: December 7th, 1989; Gardenia California, USA.

A fog blew over the suburb of Gardenia, a suburb of the much larger city of Los Angeles, a figure moved in the local park along the winding sidewalks and in the shade of trees and hedge mazes that overlooked the park and kept out prying eyes, the figure was cloaked in dark red cloak, in his right hand a Golden staff, extravagant in design, with a spiral in which a red gem was housed it was topped by a golden head of dragon with gems in the eyes of the beast and above that a gem that protruded oddly from the top, it housed a concealed sword; along the sides a blade protruded in an odd angle, however with a click of a button midway along the staff could turn the staff into a glaive with lightning speed. The Staff was made of Relix and overlaid with gold, it allowed the focusing of the powerful magic wielded by its owner. In the left hand the owner held a device that resembled a flare at first glance however it was more than it seemed to be. The figure was and remained Erasiel Nathan Darkar, son of Lord Argulus Darkar and Lady Avarra "Brightstone" Darkar; a Phoenix of that most prestigious house the Herald of and Consort of Asha the Phoenix Queen, Phoenix of Balance.

Erasiel looked around studied the surroundings, the night was quiet, no dogs barked, no people were about at these late hours and in the distance no sounds apart from the passing of the occasional car passed were heard. "Perfect, no witnesses, secrecy is paramount to success, no sign of anybody or any threats, time to tell the others the coast is clear and we can hold our meeting" Erasiel said to himself, he then placed the device in his left hand in his pouch, one of many at his side, then pulled out a device, a Cellphone, a device that had yet to be developed on Earth but present and easily acquired in the Magic Dimension on any world there in, he then called a number. "The time has come to implement our plan, inform the others about this and send for them Nebula" Erasiel said.

After a few minutes several portals opened, out of each proceeded a people clad in the same cloak as Erasiel, save one a Fairy: Nebula who stood relaxed in her fairy form not worried about any witnesses, Nebula had shoulder-length deep blue hair, blue eyes and a fair skin tone. She wore a purple dress which becomes violet at the end of the right side. On her top left side, the is a part of short sleeved purple top seen. She had elbow warmers with transparent fabric on the top. She wore barefoot sandals in the Roman style and had large blue and lavender wings that pointed upwards. Her figure was slender with build that was both athletically trimmed and attractive, she cut a figure that was both beautiful and imposing at the same time, she had her arms folded. Erasiel walked up to Nebula hugged and kissed her, then proceeded to stand in front of the gathering of 12 figures, 14 counting him a Nebula.

At the center stood a woman, her eyes an icy blue, her black hair in the open, her face beautiful, she was pregnant, 7 months pregnant, and due for a child any day now due to the Phoenix father, she held four bundles in her arms pressed against her chest. In each bundle was a sleeping baby girl, none like the other, one with a snow blue hair, one with curly purple hair, one with deep brown hair which had a brown blonde streak in the bangs and one with obsidian black hair.

The Woman was Seranna Khalida Estrana Trix: Princess of Whisperia in exile, the true heir to the throne on which a Usurper her younger brother Darancar sat, the children were hers, those of herself and Acheron the Red; powerful Phoenix sorcerer who had desired only to use his daughters as weapons to rule the Magic Dimension, a plan which she had wanted no part in for her or her children which she wanted them to live in peace though to still become powerful Witches much like herself for she was a witch and remained one, however she was not strong enough to stop her brother Darancar who had killed their parents and usurped the throne and framed her for the murders, in fact her older siblings had been barred from inheriting the Imperial throne and becoming Emperor or Empress for one reason or another, her oldest brother had renounced his claim due to being content with ruling the small kingdom of Arrendale, her older sister had been barred due having illegitimate children with Erasiel Darkar; who himself was quite a womanizer and had many lovers, wives and concubines. This left her with the claim a claim which Darancar hadn't opposed until he found out she had married for love and not just that but to a turncoat from the side of Ancestresses, their son Acheron. It was a fools love, a love that had cost her dearly; her inheritance, her reputation, her fortune, and eventually ended in tragedy as she had been manipulated for Acheron's own selfish plans, he had claimed he had reformed but he was just as evil as the Ancestral Shades who when they still controlled the Three Seers who had inadvertently created them created him with a stolen Phoenix egg belonging to Belladone the oldest sister and stolen flames of Lord Darkar's shadow fire, cheating the natural laws and creating a Phoenix who was neither a Darkar nor a seer, they had created a monster in Phoenix form who was only out for himself though he masked with all the cunning of a Spider weaving her webs. All the relationship had left her with was a broken heart and four soon to be five daughters, all of which would be hunted by Darancar unless they were hidden, not in the same place and not with her alone, the matter of separation was what had brought them, herself, Erasiel, Nebula and the others together

"The time has come, everyone here knows what has happened and this must be done, the Company of Light has gathered here on the most obscure world in the universe to hide a secret, we all know that Darancar has pledged to support our alliance but all that would be lost if he knew that we had hid his sister away from him, thus we have come here for the final council on the matter" Erasiel stated.

The figures removed their hoods, some were men others woman, some were witches, some were fairies, others were wizards and warlocks. All were different but all were united in purpose, that purpose was victory: victory over the Ancestresses and victory over the Fanatical templars of Lighthaven; a war that had started with only two sides, now had three, The Company of Light composed of the loyalists from the Order of the Red Cloak and from those who opposed the fanatical purges of the Light Haveners and the evil of the Ancestresses: every race in the Magic Dimension was part of the group and many worlds, kingdoms, republics and empires were a part of this coalition. The Light Haveners were religious fanatics who believed in the faith of Elrath the Greater Phoenix of Light; the faith entailed that they were the only true faith, that all who disagreed were heretics and magic itself was evil both of which should be burned alive or tortured to death in the most barbaric fashion, they were numerous and controlled numerous worlds and had secret monasteries that only could be discovered by accident and the locations of which were known only to the those monasteries, the Light Haveners posed a threat to order and were a threat to any who wished to live in peace, only options given to foreigners was convert or die. Last came the forces of the Ancestresses forces of evil monsters and evil beings who desired to conquer the magical dimension and destroy all good and neutral beings within, leaving only a dark empire built with slaves of the conquered, the Ancestresses were the greatest threat and mightiest of the three powers however they were kept in check by Lighthaven and the Company of Light. The Ancestresses themselves were created when the Three Seers, three powerful Phoenix Witches separated their dark aspects from themselves in an attempt to keep their hearts pure and true towards the cause of Order: it had failed the Three Seers had died but being Phoenixes, they came back to life and the greatest threat to the Magic Dimension was born and they took name of the Ancestral Witches. The War of the Ancestresses or the War for Order as it was also called, had lasted 25,000 years with Ancestresses coming in in the middle of the conflict about 13,000 years prior and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, however hope was there and stood brightly, the Light Haveners tired of war and would soon seek peace against the Company of Light, also in the forges of Hagen Greatsmith in his forge a blade was being made to banish the Ancestral shades for good: a blade made for the King of Domino.

The entire group were some of the most powerful beings in the Magic Dimension let alone the Universe, each possessed the power to destroy legions of enemies, however they were also leaders some of the most influential leaders at that and all sat of the Wizard's Council, the name of which was a misnomer as Wizards weren't the only ones on the council: Phoenixes, Witches, Fairies, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Paladins, Necromancers and Specialists among others, also sat on that council. The mightiest of them all was Erasiel the Head of the Council who was followed in power behind by two other Phoenixes in attendance, his Cousin Avalon and Brood Mate Vanessa. Following them in terms of power were the Fairies Nebula the Greater fairy of War and Peace, as well justice and vengeance, and of Celestial might she was also Erasiel's betrothed and lover as well as Daphne the Princess of Domino, Nymph of Sirenix and also betrothed to Erasiel. Then there was Faragonda Essentar the Headmistress of the Alfea and one of Erasiel's wives, who was both a Fairy and a Witch and held access to power from both and spells from a variety of lores of Magic, her power was equal to that of her twin sister Griffin a powerful witch and Headmistress of Cloud Tower College for witches, her younger sisters Zarathusa and Eritrude were also in attendance and like Faragonda, Griffin and them were wives to Erasiel, in good standing and for millennia. They were accompanied by the wizards four of which were with them: Merlos Ambrosias the head of the Wizard Council's comity on war, Balthazar Gelt Supreme Patriarch of the Colleges of Magic in his home Empire on Malus also on the Council and the Alchemy teacher at Alfea College for Fairies, Saladin the headmaster of Red Fountain college for Specialists and Wizards, and lastly councilman Neruman a powerful wizard of the lore of shadows and a master Necromancer.

The Group had gathered around in a semi-circle each waiting for their chance to speak. "I have made my decision already, my daughters must be separated to keep them safe, however I don't want to separate my triplets Icy, Stormy and Darcy, they already have bounded with each other and separating them would put them more at risk" Seranna stated her position stated. A few members disagreed with this opinion, but more supported it, the three triplets were the oldest of her children being about 1 ½, while Trixie was only a few months old and had been born separate from her sisters.

"I agree with Seranna, the triplets are already too close with each other and more importantly they will be strongest together" Faragonda argued.

"It is an unnecessary risk" Merlo argued his long beard quivering for emphasize.

"It may be a risk however it is one I am willing to take, the power the three of them possess together would be beyond Darancar's if trained properly and it would take too long if they weren't together, also there is the matter of who would raise them, I have already decided that the three will be trained at Cloud Tower by Griffin, and I have decided she would be the best candidate to raise them" Erasiel stated overriding the objection of Merlo.

"Why train them as witches wouldn't they be more suited as fairies?" Saladin asked.

"Because of me, I won't throw aside millennia of House Trix tradition, also their magical abilities are far more suited to them being Witches, Whisperians have always been stronger as witches then as faeries "Seranna stated emphatically.

"Also, we have already agreed that they will be trained as witches Saladin; arguing otherwise about this is pointless" Neruman stated overriding Saladin's objections.

"Enough however of arguing details, Earth is the best place for Seranna to hide, already there is an old witch-home built by her parents 400 years prior for her to live in here in Gardenia, it has been centuries since witches have come from Earth, also magic has been weakened here since the vile hunters from the Wizards of the Black Circle began to hunt and imprison the Earth Faeries; all those who use magic here have gone into hiding, are unaware of their abilities, or have been sealed away by those vile wizards in summery it is the perfect place to hide and the last place Darancar would think to search" Erasiel explained, no one objected to what the Head of the Council, everyone stood emotionless, not betraying the their feelings or opinions on the plan, they had all agreed to it on the Wizard's Council, they all stood in silence for the next moment the only noises being the moans of a baby moving in sleep, one of Seranna's children, and the passing of another car.

"We are all in agreement then?" Balthazar Gelt asked his golden face mask betraying no emotion then everyone nodded, Seranna doing so reluctantly. Seranna then approached Griffin and handed three bundles.

"Make sure that they are raised properly, as close to Whisperia as you can, make sure they are trained at Cloud Tower as soon as they come of age, don't hold anything back" Seranna stated to Griffin with a stern expression, she then turned to Erasiel, handing him the last bundle. "Raise her properly have the Dark Elves teach her in magic and teach her much of it yourself, don't introduce her to her sisters until you feel she is ready, also when my triplets reach their senior year you teach them everything you can teach them even if it takes years, don't tell any of them about their past until they are old enough and strong enough to handle the truth, above all else keep them safe, as for me I will watch my burden and keep her safe and teach her what I can best that she stay safe from others" Seranna stated to Erasiel.

"Feel free to have Eldaria help you teach her she lives in Gardenia in a place out of sight of anyone looking for her, also keep the book secret and keep it safe" Erasiel responded. Seranna looked at the book on her side then reached into her bag and handed him another book, this one had runic markings and occult imagery on the cover in the Whisperian style and language it also bore the symbol of a five headed hydra breathing fire up into the sky, the royal insignia of House Trix; the ruling house of Whisperia, the house of Emperors and Empresses that had ruled since the monarchy ceased being elective 500,000 years prior.

"The Tome of Decay the pride of our house and the most powerful tome on Whisperia and one of the most powerful artifacts in the Magic Dimension; keep it secret, keep it safe, and keep it out of the hands of my brother, also keep my little Trixie safe from him as well" Seranna explained, Erasiel took the book holding Trixie tight to his chest she slept peacefully.

"By Asha and my incarnations, I will keep her safe and your other daughters as well" Erasiel responded, Seranna then approached him, pecked him on the cheek and kissed Trixie.

"Farewell Trixie, my little one hopefully we see each other again one day" Seranna stated and then went to Griffin and kissed each sleeping head. "Farewell Icy, Darcy, and Stormy, you will rise, one day we will see each other again and I will be glad to see how much you have grown; Icy one day you and all four of your sisters will take back your birthright and avenge your grandparents the Emperor and Empress of Whisperia, and little Icy one day you will be Empress" Seranna stated, monologuing to her sleeping daughters who dreamt pleasant dreams. "Griffin keep them safe, and raise them as close as you can to Whisperia, head to my sister's court in the Ice Kingdom of Avarda on the border, they will be safest there and still in Whisperian space, tell my sister only of their identities and she will keep them safe, hopefully the war will end soon and they can live in peace, I want you to act as their guardian though, I give you custody of my daughters and hope you will keep them safe, my friend and mentor, teach them as well as you taught me, see them rise to greatness, but above all else keep them safe" Seranna said to Griffin, then paused, her deep blue eyes looking into Griffin's green eyes until she saw the acceptance of her duty she then turned to Erasiel again and stated "You will teach them as soon as they come of age, also if you romance them do so at said age".

"As for me I will raise my new daughter in secret here on Earth, hopefully she will meet her sisters one day, and that she will become as mighty as them, here however is where I will stay I've given up my claim and passed it to my daughters, Whisperia will be theirs on day and I am content to live a simple life here on Earth as an ordinary human far with peace and free from the intrigues of Whisperia's courts and the threats of those who would destroy order and free people who live free from the tyranny of the Ancestresses and the terror of zealots of Lighthaven, I won't let any harm come to the people of Earth though and will protect them where I can, by the oaths I have taken as Princess of Whisperia on my 18th name day and the oath I made when I dawned my Red Cloak and joined that order, and above all else I will keep my daughter safe" Seranna stated, then left the group proceeding off into darkness

"We have no more to discuss, we must head to Domino to prepare for final push" Daphne stated, the figures then left, the park silent to what had transpired and the stars the only witnesses of the meeting and they would not be betraying what they now knew.

Domino, the Royal city of Sparx: December 19th, 1989.

The sky grew dark over the royal city of Sparx, the sounds of war echoed in the night, the city smoked beneath Domino's three moons: Coltaris, Endoria and Kerathi all of which shined with hope as they were unmarred by the battle that now raged all over the surface of the world they had been surprisingly spared by the attackers who were solely focused on Domino itself. The War of the Ancestresses had come to Domino, the Ancestresses came to Domino, the attack had been so sudden that Erasiel hadn't anticipated it, the city guard had fought heroically and the royal guard was doing all they, could, Erasiel then looked out from the balcony and saw the city guard make their last stand, civilians hiding in the royal palace and in bunkers beneath the city or lied dead in the streets or bound in shackles by the wicked Hasharri, evil men who fought for the Ancestress, the most unfortunate were being fed on by the Morden dark twisted creatures who the Ancestresses had made from proud orcs that they had captured, not that orcs didn't fight for both sides anyway. "You can't just stay there any longer we have to leave" Daphne shouted she was no longer clad in her night gown but had assumed her form as a nymph of Sirenix, wearing an orange mask, and her platinum blonde hair was pulled up, she wore a long, flowing dress that complemented her well-endowed figure, her shell-shaped wings were yellow with green borders. She was not in her Sirenix proper form but in a form that was quite powerful in its own rite.

"You're holding back" Erasiel stated running to Daphne's side as they left the room proceeding down the hallway from their room, the were to have been married on the marrow, but this attack had ruined their wedding plans.

"I don't intend to have to fight, we need to get the twins and get out of here now" Daphne stated.

"I for one agree" Nebula stated running up followed by Vanessa and Vanessa's faceless Lighthorn, they then took a right down one hallway and proceeded to a room in which two cribs held their respective infants, one a boy with brown hair and the other a girl with fiery orange hair, each took up their respective charges. "We have to split up, we can't have both eggs in the same basket, Vanessa you're with Daphne, Daphne carry Bloom, Erasiel you're with me we have Thoren" Nebula ordered, Nebula grabbed the boy out of his bed who was already awake and crying, Nebula soothed him while Daphne picked up Bloom who while also being awake was not at all crying in fact the experience delighted the bubbly infant and she was happy as a baby could be.

They then darted out of the nursery past another hall with two turns. "Here is where part ways for a time, Kerborg go with Daphne I will show up if you run into trouble" Erasiel stated and black bat like creature Kerborg in the form of a bat flew to the side of Daphne. "We all know the plan, if anything goes wrong head to Earth, if it goes right we will all reach Solaria safely" Erasiel stated, then both groups split up Erasiel and Nebula headed right and Daphne Vanessa and the Faceless headed left, the darted from hallway to hallway the sound of battle echoing throughout the palace the King and Queen of Domino were not on the planet as they had taken a trip to Solaria for strategy on the next offensive leaving Erasiel and Daphne in charge of Domino in their absence, how ironic that King Oritel and Queen Marion two of the most powerful warriors in the Magic Dimension and rulers of Domino were not there to defend their keep.

Erasiel wondered where was the warning from Eraklyion: the chief ally of Domino who watched the space for Hyperspace anomalies that warned them of oncoming fleets from enemies, or where were King Erendur's armies, no matter it couldn't be helped whatever his reasons for not showing up it could be explained later, every moment now was spent running as the dashed for the portal room to Solaria, here was where the trouble began Kerborg ran up to Erasiel. "My Lord Daphne sent me she and Vanessa are pinned down" the Faceless yelled urgently.

"Nebula to the portal I'll go help Daphne, no time for arguments" Erasiel ordered, Nebula glared then ran into the Solarian portal which crumbled behind as fragment from the roof crushed it behind her. Erasiel teleported to Daphne, finding her pinned down by a group of Morden with Crossbows, Erasiel sent a fireball in the direction of the fell creatures which screamed in agony at their last moments as they were incinerated by the scalding flames that left nothing but charred bones and melted armor in their wake, the foes were dead, however a dark presence of foreboding energy manifested, Daphne handed Bloom to Vanessa.

"Leave go to Earth, now, don't care where on Earth but go to it out of their reach!" Daphne yelled urgently, Vanessa and Lighthorn fled thru a portal Erasiel opened, it wasn't precise so it could take them anywhere on Earth but it had to do, not three seconds after they had darted thru the portal, three dark figures arrived, crones floating spectrally over the ground three of them: their hair a mess dark robes a mess over their figures which lacked legs but floated, they were not spirits but beings of raw power, wraiths, their faces were ugly to behold, pointed noses protruded from grey skin, masks covered their brows but showed their eyes, yellow and red with malice, the masks were in the style of Daphne's which was to say masquerade style, their hands; claws like those of a Gargoyle, they stood alone but resonated raw power, extreme power enough to rival Erasiel's own and surpassing Daphne's by leagues. They knew who they were: The Ancestral Witches, the Ancestresses, the three sisters of Darkness, the vile darkness that had once been in the hearts of the Three Seers who expelled them from their bodies; granted doing so had killed the Three Seers however being Phoenixes they came back.

The Ancestresses cackled "Going somewhere Darkar, you aren't leaving any time soon" Belladone the oldest of the Crones taunted, raising up darkened ice spikes in her hands ready to strike, each of the Ancestresses had the same name as the Seer they had come from in addition to their powers.

"I knew this was your handywork I just didn't think you had the guts to show up yourselves" Erasiel responded, his golden staff in hand and the other hand readying a spell. "You are too late, the King isn't here, and his children are out of your reach" Erasiel stated defiantly staring down the fowl crones, who began to laugh.

"Is that so well I see one of his children here his heir none the less" Tharma the youngest Crone responded staring at Daphne.

"I am not afraid of you" Daphne retorted her eyes showing killer intent to the shades.

"Then you will die, your power is useless here Nymph of Domino and of Sirenix" Lysliss the middle crone responded.

"I'll show you" Daphne retorted then sent a fireball towards the Ancestresses who effortless blocked it, she then sent out a cascade of fire attacks each leaving Ancestresses unscathed, she then tried to unleash her true Sirenix form however when she did, so she felt terrible agony her skin peeled away she screamed as loudly and painfully as she could, her flesh gone, her skin replaced and soon she was weakened a spirit, a wraith, trapped between life and death, and unable to resist.

"Behold the Curse of Sirenix any fairy who has Sirenix and uses its true power will become like Daphne, and any new fairies who seek the power will die painful deaths should the fail to achieve it before the new moon" the Ancestress proclaimed, Erasiel was unbowed, his face showing pure hatred, his eyes red without pupil or iris to be seen.

"Daphne! ARUGOWWWHGHHHHHHHH!" Erasiel roared, his form changed into his battle form, he charged at the Ancestresses and the battle began, the spells collided, Erasiel held no major combat spell back and hurled burning heads, purple suns of Xereus, chained balls of lightning, amber spears, blasts of energy, arcane unforging, barrages of scalding metal and flames, shards of molten metal, blades of magical energy, and other spells of varying types of magic at the Ancestresses who matched his spells with their own cataclysmic surges of ice, lightning, and darkness, the ground quaked, as proud tapestries were rent and statues broken as the fought from level to level of the palace. The fire of the battle was terrible and went on for months until the roof began to collapse and they moved on outside of the palace into the sky above the city, which Ice had begun to cover as the countryside was frozen, the legions of Ancestresses in withdrawal as they had won, Erasiel saw the sight of the ice devouring and covering the city and then kept up the fight however it didn't continue for much longer, he had grown tired and hadn't eaten or slept for months now the Ancestresses were not tiring as they could never tire, eventually he grew sloppy and made an error, an opening, one which the Ancestresses didn't hesitate to exploit, then there was a blast of combined energy as the Ancestresses roared in one voice "AZRAK ENGATHA ZORTALS MARZA" their convergence overpowered him sending him colliding into an ice spike. "Do you know the difference between and error and a mistake?" the question echoed in his mind, he had recently read Heir to the Empire and the question had come from Grand Admiral Thrawn. "The difference between an error and a mistake is anyone can make an error, but an error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to fix it" Erasiel answered to himself, blood seeping out of his chest onto the ground far below his proud wings marred by dark spells, his staff fell from his grip to the ice ground far below, the spike was atop a great glacier which now stood miles above the royal city of Sparx, Erasiel's eyes became white, he heard the cackling of the Ancestresses, he held up his hand, saw that it was already turning to ash. "Savor your victory foul crones you won't win the war, and you know I will return, this was only my eighth incarnation you will rot in the Obsidian Dimension for what you've done" Erasiel taunted to the laughter of the Ancestresses. "Asha, I return to you" Erasiel gasped, his body crumbling to ash, "I rise from the ashes, a Phoenix can never truly die, Asha uses all" he muttered, his last words, soon a cloud of ash poured down onto the ground far below and the Ancestresses continued to laugh manically in triumph.

"Domino be frozen in time frozen for all time, our will bound in this spell I will not be unbound" the Ancestresses chanted, they were right, however the spell could be broken like all their dark spells of binding if they were destroyed. Kerborg flew past the Ancestresses and picked up Erasiel's staff and glasses then flew into a portal.

"Awake Erasiel, awake my herald, my king, my love" Asha's voice soothed the air. Erasiel squinted alive again wearing no garb and having white hair and purely white eyes with no iris or pupil to be seen, he swore to himself he would avenge Domino, honor all the oath he had made so it was, so it would be.


	2. Arc 1 Prologue

Arc 1: the Trix and Winx Club

Prologue

Cloud Tower College for Witches: Magix, 16 years later, Summer 2004

Erasiel had only just arrived, he was dressed in his civilian garb the kind he wore when he was around normal people and not fighting Demons, Daemons, Necromantic creations, primordial horrors, extradimensional horrors or anything else which threatened the Magic Dimension or reality in general. His civilian garb consisted of white and purple running shoes, black sweats with orange lines running down either side, a black long sleeved undershirt, and an orange shirt which displayed an image of himself in Phoenix form; the image being that of Phoenix with orange and purple feathers with a purple feathered head and a fiery tail that was mix of purple and orange, speaking of; said purple feathered tail hanged out the back of his pants like a cape but stopped a few inches off the ground he concealed it when he was not on a planet which believed magic was either evil or didn't exist, however on Magix and on most worlds in the Magic Dimension he was perfectly safe to have it hanging out as it made clear he was a Phoenix and not some ordinary human. Speaking of his appearance Erasiel could alter it to be whatever he wished to be, provided that is was male and a solid, he could also modify his size, his true form was the image on his shirt, that of a fiery Phoenix with orange and purple flaming feathers, however the appearance he choose to appear as was that of a handsome young man with dark brown hair with a streak of black curving thru it in a line that was along the entire length of his hair which was cut about average in length because Erasiel was annoyed with men who grew their hair long when they weren't say an elf, but human men who grew hair long like a woman's annoyed him and he loathed them because they were easily mistaken for woman from the back. His hair was not his natural hair color as he was a natural blonde which he had inherited from his father however he refused to have his hair be its natural color on account of his Twin sister Eris who was also blonde and irritated him to no end and had from the day of their birth some 3 and half billion years ago, so he changed its color immediately after his 1st birthday to make sure he was distinguishable from his sister. His build was average being about 5'9 in height however he was in better shape than the human he looked like well minus the tail. Phoenixes have high metabolisms meaning they didn't store up any real excess fat, Erasiel's physical strength was extreme enough that he could stop a charging full plate armored rhinox being ridden by an Ogre in full plate with one punch if he was using his full strength and his agility was better than that of any elf and his skin was extra thick and he could ignite it in fire to incinerate most conventional attacks provided they made it thru his magical wards, his Realix Armor, and extra layers of magical protection in between.

Not that he had to worry about anyone trying to kill him at the moment, no one here was an enemy in fact they were the exact opposite they were allies, right now he was waiting for Headmistress Griffin to finish with her previous appointment, he held his staff in one hand, then noted his glasses were slipping off his face which he corrected with his right hand the one that had his ring on it, said ring had a needle on it that was painless and unnoticeable it injected some of his blood which allowed him to put people at ease also it made them trust him. His Glasses were the same ones he had since he was 5. They had been made by dwarves out of the finest mithril, layered with gold, for the frames and the lenses were made from diamond that had been enchanted to always allow him to see without ever needing to change prescription, also they could withstand any abuse thrown their way; if a dragon of extreme age and size, say one the size of a mountain range, decided to step on them they would emerge completely unscathed.

Soon the door opened and out went a young witch who had been sent to the office for issues of one kind or another, he then walked in the door, startling Griffin who had been picking up something that had fallen off her desk. He studied her, it had been 16 years since the War had ended with the Ancestresses' defeat and them being trapped in the realm of Obsidian, a battle which had cost them dearly, the Ancestresses had been defeated but at a price, many of their friends had been killed in the battle or turned to stone by half-successful sealing ritual, half successful because it had trapped the ancestress but had turned everyone except 12 people who had been behind a protective barrier when the cataclysmic spell hit to stone and frozen them in time, the spell was the fallback plan not actual plan which had been to have King Oritel destroy then Ancestresses with his sword however the ritual of binding was cast and the Ancestresses cast a counter spell which caused the mass turning into stone, the barrier which had saved Erasiel, Griffin and 10 others was cast by Queen Marion before she and her husband were turned to stone in the epicenter, only the sword was not stone and it could only be wielded by those who had the blood of Oritel in them, in short only his children and he could use it, however the past was not what Erasiel had come to see Griffin about at least not in the sense of the war rather instead of a promise he had made that same year a month earlier. Since the end of the war Daphne in her spectral form had been brought by him to Lake Roccalouche near the source of Sirenix magic, the curse hadn't claimed any other Sirenix Faeries as Erasiel had warned them of the curse, Politea, Daphne's best friend, now lead the Nymphs who had resumed their peace-time roles as guards of the Fairy High Queen Fyora, the eldest sister of Griffin, and protectors of the Magic Dimension they also had discovered a work around for dealing with the curse.

"You haven't changed much in 16 years Erasiel" Griffin stated looking him in the eyes with her own green eyes, behind the frames of square-lensed glasses, what she saw was both respect and love, they had been married a long time, however being immortal and immune to the effects of aging via Griffin's half-elf heritage and Erasiel's own Phoenix nature they had not had any issues with said marriage, which was one of many marriages to many women Erasiel had, as he had a harem, a rather large harem, actually large would be an understatement as to how many woman he loved, the only thing that exceeded that number was the amount of children he had, the number could allow him to form a near limitless supply of Armies if he wished, not that he needed to as he had other people for those purposes they did however serve as commanders and as a means to maintaining alliances. However, he looked back at Griffin, studied her features which were as beautiful as ever, her hair was long and purple however part of it was in an unorthodox style that was halfway between a witch's hat and a horn of plenty though despite this part of her hair it still flowed down to her knees, it also concealed her half-pointed ears which revealed her as a half-elf/half-fairy. She wore a red dress, white gloves that covered her arms, as well as a golden necklace which had a powerful ward placed in it. Her figure was generously endowed with her having F-cup breasts the same size as her twin sister Faragonda's, and she was good shape in terms of athletics as well having elven strength and speed, with the magical abilities of both Elves and Faeries, her ears were obscured by her long hair though they were pointed but not long. Her last name was Essentar, and she was one of the 20 daughters of Tieru Essentar, son of Glendarian Essentar, one of the most powerful Elven Mages in existence and Arcadia the first fairy and first fairy queen, her sister Faragonda was also headmistress of Alfea College for Faeries and both were twins though not identical.

"I know I haven't changed much but neither have you apart from the new hairstyle which I like by the way" Erasiel responded. "But this is no time for small talk you sent a message to me and it is time for me to begin their training" Erasiel continued getting down to the business at hand.

"Indeed, it is time, the Trix sisters are among the finest students to ever attend Cloud Tower and have the highest grades in the school's history, but they lack a deal of tact and to an extent: discipline, thus they need a good tutor to steer them in the right direction and allow them to become truly great" Griffin responded.

"Which is why you sent for me, well I promised their mother that I would teach them when the time came and if they are lacking some particular skills I am pretty sure I can teach them and in time they will become stronger than they could have ever imagined, I know their sister already is as Trixie has developed quite amazingly and I have already given her Gloomix" Erasiel responded.

"We don't have much time allow me to introduce them to you, they have grown a lot since you last saw them, and they are now fully adults" Griffin noted getting out of her chair and leading Erasiel out of her office.


	3. Arc 1 Chapter 1

(Que Opening theme: If you desire you can become one of our bunch! Winx, if your hand is warm in mine it will give us greater power with a feeling we'll be sure-fire winners! Winx, with a smile you can enchant you'll lighten up our world! With a feeling we can take flight! Watch us! If you desire, you can become one of our bunch! With a magic ray, the sky keeps on blazing! An adventure is certain to start in the stars! When I'm cloud-borne I fly through time and space, I color my existence with my imagination! With my flight in heaven! Winx! if your hand is warm in mine it will give us greater power! With a feeling we'll be sure-fire winners! Winx, we're the new kids on the block! We're each other's dearest friends! With a feeling we can take flight, watch us! Winx, you're magical, Winx! And you roam through the stars, you are Winx. A powerful light ray! A fire! Under the sign of the Winx!)

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Event

Erasiel and Griffin wandered the halls of Cloud Tower heading to the dorm room of the Trix sisters, along the way they passed a fair few witches who stared at Erasiel with obvious interest and who blushed as he passed them, Erasiel had that effect on women mainly due his looks but also due to the way he carried himself. The hallways were elaborate and had he not been to Cloud Tower numerous times before he would have been lost, in addition he didn't have to worry about being lost due to Griffin being with him. It only took a matter of minutes to find the room they were looking for after they arrived on the dormitory level in question, Erasiel knocked on the door.

The door was answered by a woman about 18 years old she had long brown hair that reached down her ankles, and bangs that reached to her waist that were a lighter shade of golden brown. She also had yellow eyes. She wore a purple top with a heliotrope darker purple circle in the middle it was attached to a choker around her neck. Her pants were purple bell-bottoms She also wore glasses with yellow lenses. Her shoes were black, purplish boots. Her dark brown hair reached all the way down to her ankles. She had curls that hung loose down to her waist. Her curls were light brown if not golden. Her hair made her look as if she was wearing a cape. Her figure was both well-endowed and athletically slender though not buff, more like the figure of an acrobat or a ballerina. "Headmistress Griffin this is a surprise and who is this?" she asked studying Erasiel with a look of wonder, interest, and attraction.

"Yes, it is a surprise for you anyway, however may I remind you that I told you and your sisters that you would be getting a personal tutor" Griffin responded. "Your grades are the highest of any student at Cloud Tower and your sisters aren't far behind, and because of your seniority at the school I have decided that it is time for you to learn some far more advanced magic than that currently is being taught at Cloud Tower, on that note I would like to let your new tutor introduce himself" she continued then raised a hand towards Erasiel who stepped forward.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Erasiel Nathan Darkar, call me Nathan for now as Erasiel is a name I reserve for long-time friends and acquaintances, I am a Phoenix of one of the most powerful houses in the Magic Dimension if not the whole universe, I have millennia of teaching experience and have taught some of the most powerful magic users and warriors of all time, you won't regret anything you learn from me, but I have introduced myself why don't you do the same" Erasiel introduced.

"I am Darcy Trix, come in, and meet my sisters" Darcy responded, Erasiel entered and studied their room which was mostly clean apart from a garbage can that needed emptying, there were four beds, one of which was occupied by one of her sisters a young woman who was quite distinct as she had dark purple frizzy hair shaped like a cloud. Her lavender bangs were shaped like lightning bolts, which went past her shoulders. Her eyes were blue-green. She wore a maroon crop-top with a metal loop decoration attaching the shirt to a loop around her neck. Other than this, her top was strapless. She also wore a shiny maroon mini-skirt with lavender panties which Erasiel could see clearly because of her laying back on her bed allowing him to look up her skirt. Her shoes were maroon platform high-heeled sandals. Her figure was the same as her sister's, she was playing with lightning sparks that emanated from her hands much like someone else would open a garrote. Across from the beds another woman was busy with homework however she rose from her chair to face Erasiel and Griffin and studied them, she had blue-white hair, pulled back into a high ponytail held with a dark teal-tube piece which had a gem of some kind in it. Though her bangs were pulled back into her ponytail, she had pieces of her hair, curled, reaching her shoulders. She had icy blue eyes and wore white eye-shadow. Her outfit was a light blue midriff collared tank top and matching skirt with a belt studded with diamonds. She also wore the same colored boots; her figure was again like her sisters.

If Erasiel hadn't seen them when they were born and hadn't known their parents he would have thought them not to be related, however that wasn't the case, they had the look and resemblance of their true ancestors the Three Seers, albeit with different hair styles, clothing and a lack of a tail and wings, also they weren't as tall, though not by much as they all stood about 6 feet, 6'4 in heels. However he knew them for who they were and knew what they could become, however he didn't like how they were turning out, yes they were the best students at Cloud Tower, however they had a track record of problem causing as bullies, they carried themselves in a way unsuitable for their legacy and if he didn't do anything to change that they would end up like their uncle or their father, vindictive, cruel and uncaring for the welfare of others apart from family, not what he or their mother wanted, granted Griffin had done a good job raising them otherwise, however he was absolutely angry that Griffin hadn't taught them temperance or rained in their cruelty, however all that could be easily corrected given time and if he went about it the right way, more importantly they needed to have all this corrected before he told them anything about their heritage because as it stood right now, if he told them about their royal bloodline and claim to Whisperia's throne they would die a horrible death, something he would never allow. "I heard you talking to Darcy, I hope you realize that you have your work cut out for you" the Woman stated. "Anyway, my name Icy, you have met Darcy already, and our little sister goofing off on her bed is Stormy" she introduced herself.

"Oh, cut it out Icy, I am already done with my homework!" Stormy shouted getting up off her bed and approaching Erasiel. "Let me get one thing straight with you, nobody bosses me around got it, not my sisters, not anyone, now that we're clear explain yourself who are you and what business do you have here!?" Stormy followed up.

Erasiel relaxed his expression then tossed his staff up in the air and caught it with relative ease and grace. "Erasiel Nathan Darkar, call me Nathan, pleased to meet you Stormy" Erasiel stated then walked up and took Stormy's hand and kissed it in a gentlemanly manner.

Stormy smiled and blushed, she was taken aback by his demeanor and his overall bravery, usually the men she met would be showing fear, but he was undaunted and bold, she liked that in a man, also liked the fact he carried himself as a noble but was not arrogant or brash like the specialists she had met at Red Fountain who were nobles, in fact he was the exact opposite, someone who was aware of his position and could care less about it, his attire also reflected that, though she was curious about his tail. Erasiel noted that last part as he caught her staring at his impressive plumed tail and continued "I am Phoenix of House Darkar and son of Lord Argulus Darkar the patriarch of said house and my father, I have seen many things in my life time and have taught many powerful magic users and warriors their skills, you three have potential and that is why I am here, I am here to teach you advanced magic, stuff that is usually taught to the most experienced, as well as other practical and prudent skills, however I will teach these spells and more you need only follow me and my example and most importantly trust me, it will take time and effort for you and your sisters to achieve true mastery but it will most definitely be worth it"

"Well I am glad to see you have all gotten off on the right footing, I will leave you to it Erasiel" Griffin responded and the left the room leaving Erasiel and the Trix alone.

Erasiel set his staff on the bed which had nothing on it, then stated "I will be your new roommate, I have much to teach you three however only when you are ready for it, but for starters lets discuss more about yourselves." The Trix gathered together.

"So how do we know you are really as powerful as you claim to be?" Icy asked her eyes studying him, he investigated them and then responded.

"By testing your abilities, we will start with a test of strength follow me outside" Erasiel stated they then teleported outside the window, all four of them hovering 400 feet above the ground. "Now try and break my wards, hit me with your most powerful attacks" Erasiel ordered, the Trix didn't hesitate and each unleashed their strongest attacks, a cascade of Ice shards came from Icy, a lance of Dark energy was launched by Darcy, and Storm unleashed a twister that sent out lightning bolts in his direction, the attacks hit his wards, leaving him completely unscathed not one hair out of please. "Now for a test of your defenses, Firestorm!" Erasiel responded sending a cascade of fireballs towards each Trix sister, who barely blocked the attacks with a barrier of their signature spells, even then the force sent them flying 20 yards before they stopped. "Excellent you three have passed the first test, for the record that wasn't even my strongest attack, in fact I was holding back, Burning Skull!" Erasiel responded sending a screaming skull of fire in the opposite direction of Trix which lit several trees on fire, he then absorbed all the flames back into him and winked at the Trix, who's jaws were dropped at the sight. "Now do you believe me?" he asked rhetorically.

"That was Awesome!" Stormy yelled.

"Indeed, that was impressive, most impressive" Icy stated calmly, they then went back inside.

Erasiel then parked himself atop his bed and sat back stretched his arms out then sat up. "That wasn't even a warm up. I can see you have learned your first lesson, that of humility, the fact that there will always be so much more to learn, side note even that wasn't my most powerful attack, now I ask you a question what is the most powerful magical source?" Erasiel asked.

"The Dragon Flame and we are going to get it" Stormy responded her sisters looked at her with anger on their faces, Stormy's composure was that of person who had just made told someone their elaborate plan to rob a bank or other such mischief.

"Indeed and you would be incorrect there are far more powerful sources of magic then the Dragon Flame, in fact the name itself isn't correct it is the Eternal Flame, it is called the Dragon Flame because it was originally the power of the Great Dragon Sharukanaath who created the magic dimension, that power flows in the blood of Elder Dragons, normal Dragons, the Greater Phoenixes and of course ordinary Phoenixes like myself in addition to some other people, however if you are dead set on having it mind telling me how you were going to go about that" Erasiel responded his face not betraying what he thought of their plan, he personally thought that this was the sort of thing that would get them into trouble, the kind which would eventually make them pariahs something that would deny them their true potential and their true position and inheritance. The Trix then explained that they intended to find and steal it, then take over the Magic Dimension. "I see and now I ask you a hypothetical question: If you were to obtain the Dragon Flame how would you go about conquering the Magic Dimension?" the Trix were stumped Erasiel waited a few minutes to see if they could answer his question before responding, they were now exactly where he wanted them, in a position that he could recruit them and start grooming them for their rightful position of rulers of Whisperia, his plan was simple: step 1 earn their trust, step 2 temper their ambition and teach them tolerance and how to interact with and influence people, step 3 groom them for their future any other interests he had in them or them in him would be secondary but not unwelcome.

"I see you all clearly haven't thought this through, it takes many things to conquer an entire dimension the first and foremost is a plan second is armies and third is patience it takes a long time, something which being immortal you have, and I have too, you see I have been at this conquest of the Magic Dimension far longer then you have, my goals for it being to keep order in the Magic Dimension and importantly making sure it stable, if you are going to conquer the Magic Dimension you will need allies, armies and time, this a long game and you are playing with the big kids now, many have tried to conquer the Magic Dimension before, some came close others not so much, think of it as a ladder that many try to climb, but they get exhausted and fail causing them fall, the fall breaking them and causing them to either keep what they have gained or risk losing it all, I have been playing this game a long time, and so far my opponents have all lost, yet the game is far from over, you are new to the board, new pieces to board, queens if you will in a game of chess, who have the ability to move as they please but risk being taken by any piece if they don't move carefully, you have the chance of being something great, and it is far better to work with me then to be my enemy, my enemies have been defeated, however I am not satisfied by killing them, I want to humiliate them, turn everyone they love against them, make them utterly humbled, brake them, and then either let them live in their shame or kill them in the most ruthless manner possible and for the worst lock them away in the Oblivion Dimension, I have defeated many enemies, included the Ancestral Witches both in war and in battle, I have died 8 deaths and am on my 9th incarnation, you cannot kill me for good, but you have no need to make yourselves my enemies, in fact you could be my queens, my allies and like my many students before you more powerful then you could possibly imagine, stronger than your parents who were powerful magic users in their own rights, stronger than your enemies, stronger than any witch before you, however you will have make a few sacrifices and have to do things you may not agree with but it will be worth it" Erasiel responded.

The Trix were surprised, however they weren't the type to look a gift horse in the mouth, however they still were the type to want to discuss the matter as a group, which they did, Icy, Darcy, and Stormy gathered in a circle whispering in a discussion; not that Erasiel couldn't hear them but they didn't know that. They discussed the matter for a few minutes before Icy approached Erasiel who had parked himself on his bed. "Alright, we have discussed your offer in depth and we will take you up on it but on a few conditions: one: we are not your servants so don't expect to be giving us orders like you would give to hired grunts or servants, two: we expect to be equals in this partnership, three: we still want the Dragon Flame: get that for us and we will gladly serve you" Icy stated.

"Agreed, welcome to my side, first things first I know how to get the Dragon Flame or the Eternal Flame as its proper name is called, but before I give it to you three you need to prove yourselves to me with tact and skill: I am interested in acquiring a certain ring, not permanently just borrowing it to copy its powers into a copy of my own, that ring happens to be the Ring of Soloria, it happens to be in the possession of Princess Stella of Soloria who is currently a student at Alfea, I want you three to acquire that ring without Stella realizing it and without making an enemy of her, I have plans that require her to be very much alive and not an enemy of you three or me by association, do this and I will get the Dragon Flame for you three as a reward" Erasiel responded.

They then returned inside and the Trix and Erasiel began to discuss at length a plan that accomplished the task Erasiel had in mind while fulfilling the conditions he had for the mission. "So, let's get the most obvious part of this mission and the elephant in the room out of the way: Stella is a fairy; Faeries and Witches don't get along" Icy stated.

"Yeah, who cares about some frilly princess who also is a fairy!" Stormy responded with a deal of venom and cruelty, now came the first problem with Erasiel's re-education of the Trix, convincing them that Witches and Faeries should be allies and fight the common enemies to Order; Order a concept that wasn't necessarily good but was there to stop chaos in all its forms, whether it be Demons or crazed religious fanatics like the Lighthaveners who wanted to wipe out all who didn't believe in their dogmatic religion, Erasiel stepped up and banged his staff repeatedly on the ground until the Trix had their undivided attention on him.

"First things first, Witches and Faeries are not enemies! nor do they need to be, the rivalry always has existed but it is more a friendly rivalry then a war, second the difference between Faeries and Witches is apart from the wings is that they use different types of magic to fight the forces of Chaos, remember the first rule of engagement: don't make unnecessary enemies and make as many allies as possible, you don't have to like your allies, but it is better have them and not need them then to need them and not have them, Stella may be a Fairy however that does not disqualify her from being an ally, now you can prank her and cause mischief but being her enemy is a bad idea, especially considering her position as a princess of a powerful kingdom and the heir to said kingdom and on top the fact that by making her an ally you would have the support of her and her kingdom, in other words make allies where available and let your enemies reveal themselves, it is better to defend then to attack" Erasiel explained sternly standing, starting off loud and ending in a normal tone, the Trix were visually put off by this but they seemed to recover their composure quickly.

"Alright we get it, no fighting with faeries they are our allies not our foes" Stormy stated with a bit of disgust in her voice, electric sparks emanated from her as she said it.

"So now that we have that out of the way what is the best way to acquire the ring, first off there is the direct approach which is take it from her by force" Darcy stated.

"Yes, there is that, however how do you intend on doing that without revealing yourselves to be behind it" Erasiel stated.

"We have a pet Troll and some Ghuls we can use them to get the ring" Stormy responded, then knocked on a nearby closet door, out came a troll with yellow skin and wearing purple overalls. "This is Knut, Knut this is Nathan" Stormy introduced. "Knut put on your glasses" Stormy commanded, the troll put his hand into the front pocket of his overalls and pulled out a simple pair of glasses and put them on.

"Hello, I am Knut I couldn't help but overhear everything here and I may be able to help" Knut stated.

"Excellent, now comes the issue of making sure Knut nor the Ghuls can be traced back to you, now Ghuls are a dime a dozen and can be easily attributed to anyone and anything, however Knut is quite unique and would draw a lot of attention in that Stella would remember his face" Erasiel responded.

"That can be solved with my illusion magic, I can turn him into an Ogre with illusions, then all he needs is an alias" Darcy stated, then disguised Knut as a tall Ogre clad in attire typical to said race. "I can also give him magic abilities for a short time, enough to make it seem like he is a different person and to mount an escape" Darcy continued, then muttered magic under her breath which was followed by flowing tendrils of shadow magic into Knut.

"I can provide a teleportation crystal that can open a retreat portal, limited to one use but I have a few of them" Erasiel responded handing Knut a crystal that shined with magical energy. "To use it Knut simply crush it, now for alias Icy can you think one up?" Erasiel explained and asked.

"I have one, it's a bit blunt but how does Goldug Ripper sound" Icy responded.

"I like it, I can remember it" Knut stated enthusiastically.

"Excellent now we have a plan, however we need a suitable place far from Magix and importantly out of sight of anyone who could see what is at work, in short a place where magic is rare and remote enough that no one would think to look there, in short I know a place that fits all those qualifications, a remote world called Earth, and more specifically Gardenia California, a small suburb which has a quiet park with a secluded grove of trees that no one ever visits, in short a place where no one would think to look" Erasiel stated.

"How do you know no one would look there?" Stormy asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Easy I have used as a hiding place before for some people who wanted to lie low and out of sight of anyone who might be hunting them, the planet has few magic users all of which live in hiding, and anyone with magic potential has no knowledge of it" Erasiel responded.

"Excellent plan now all we need to do is to give Stella a reason to go there" Icy stated with a grin on her face.

"I know just the way to do it, by giving her a prophetic nightmare" Darcy stated. "All we need to do is wait for nightfall and then I can whip up a spell for the job" Darcy continued, this ended the planning stage.

They waited until nightfall, Erasiel had sent his two chief Faceless servants Kerborg and Gripmaw to monitor Alfea college and more specifically Stella, they then reported she had fallen asleep, then the time came.

"The time has come, Darcy begin the spell" Erasiel stated, Darcy then approached a shelf grabbed several ingredients off of it and brought them to caldron, which she had already filled with a green liquid which Erasiel knew as a simple Alchemical formula for spell weaving, this cauldron would strengthen Darcy's magic and would serve to amplify her magic.

Darcy then began to chant her eyes flashed red with the typical Whisperian glare that appeared when focusing powerful magic. "Dust of Vampire, Claw of Warg, wake the powers of dark bellow, bubble double toil in trouble cauldron turn and bubble, Eye of Goblin, Wing of Hawk open the magic of ancient ones, take the mind of Princess Stella of Soloria, show her a nightmare of prophecy to cloud her mind, double bubble toil in trouble cauldron burn and bubble, Ecvae Eterna maglo noctis!" Darcy chanted her eyes burning red without iris or pupil to be seen, as was typical of Whisperian magic users when focusing their magic.

Meanwhile in Alfea, Stella shook back in forth her bed, her blonde hair shaking back in forth as she muttered in fear "No, no" Inside her dream Stella stood in a dream scape marred by fire and shadow, buildings lied ruin the bodies of marred people beneath her feet and images of an Ogre and an endless tide of Ghuls before her, then suddenly there was light, and a figure with a purple mask clad in purple Greek style clothing stood before her.

"I am the Oracle, what you have seen is a vision of what will come to pass if you do nothing" the Oracle who was secretly Darcy in disguise stated.

Stella paused as the Oracle studied Stella she had long golden blonde hair that stopped below her waist, golden-brown eyes and a medium skin tone she also wore a green halter top and orange skirt with green sandals, her appearance was attractive, and her figure was the same Darcy's own, she could see what Erasiel had in mind for her, or she guessed at least. "Stella Princess of Soloria, I come to warn you of a threat to a peaceful town of Gardenia on the world of Earth, a fierce Ogre by the name Goldug Ripper threatens Gardenia with an army of Ghuls and his own fierce strength, he has limited skill in magic and seeks to take the place for his own, only you can stop him, do not delay you must hurry time is of the essence for soon he will attack" Darcy stated.

"I have to hurry otherwise the people will be danger of being eaten or killed" Stella responded.

"Wake now Stella, go don't hesitate" Darcy stated, Stella woke from her dreams, got dressed, grabbed her Rapier, strapped it to her side and left, little did she know that the "Ogre" lay in wait for her specifically with his Ghuls.

Back at Cloud Tower… "Excellent work Darcy, you have a great deal of potential, now you three stay here I will go and monitor Knut to make sure he succeeds and intervene just in case things go wrong" Erasiel stated then left thru a portal followed by Kerborg and Gripmaw, Stormy brought out a crystal ball and placed it on the table so that she and her sisters could watch the show play out.

Gardenia California, one late June morning…

Vanessa Darkar snuck into her adopted daughter's room Bloom was sleeping in as per usual, and she had already made breakfast however she wanted to have a joke at Bloom's expense, Bloom knew her and Lighthorn as Mike and Vanessa Peterson as well as mom and dad and to everyone else she was simply Bloom Peterson, the alias had worked well for the last 16 years and she had endeavored to raise Bloom as if she were a child of herself and Erasiel whom she had not contacted during those 16 years both to maintain her cover and because she had no idea of current events for all she knew the War of the Ancestresses was still ongoing, and even if she did know, there was no guarantee of finding Erasiel given his wandering nature, as far as she was concerned it was best that Bloom stay hidden until she came of age or until her magic abilities revealed themselves and she could then send her to Alfea. Vanessa was a slightly tan-skinned Phoenix maiden with short brown hair framing her face and hazel-brown eyes. She wore light makeup, usually consisting of pale yellow-gold eye shadow and peach lipstick. Her beauty was that of someone who was in their twenties, but it concealed her true age of over three billion years old, she wore a green and white blouse and blue pants as well as Velcro strapped sandals, her tail would usually be a long periwinkle colored feather tail much like that of a peacock however she kept this concealed at all times except when she used limited free time to actually fly over Gardenia at high altitude or when she had any privacy.

As for Bloom's true heritage, Bloom knew nothing about it and it was best that it stayed that way to keep her safe, however just because she kept that a secret didn't mean she had to make Bloom believe magic didn't exist, in fact she made sure that Bloom held out hope that it did exist and made sure she was open to that which humans regarded as fictional, oh if only they knew it would sure make Bloom's classmates at school shiver to know that Bloom was alien from another world in a different dimension much less that the creatures they thought were myth were all too real and from different worlds, ah that would be a treat but it would put Bloom at risk. Speaking of her encouraging Bloom to believe in magic she had provided her with all sorts of books, games and toys relating to magic; also, sci-fi because not only was magic real but also so were those who used were hyper advanced civilizations with technology that humans could only fantasize about. On one of Bloom's shelves were numbers of books both fiction and non-fiction, also another where miniatures of Warhammer fantasy and Warhammer 40k she had helped Bloom paint them all, her most prized were her Dark Elves which were on her desk, next to her Computer, the centerpiece said collection was Malakith the Witch-King on Black Dragon it also included a Hydra with its beastmasters, a Sorceress on Cold one, a dozen Cold-one knights, two units of Dark elf Swordsmen, Lokir Fellheart and his Black Ark Corsairs, as well as number of other models. Nearby on the shelf were her other two favorite armies, the Empire of Sigmar with her two proud and well painted Steam Tanks and polished ranks of State troops, Greatswords, Knights and Halflings the centerpiece in that being a Karl Franz on his Griffin, her other favorite army was the Dwarves with their axes, crossbows guns and cannons, the centerpiece for that army being the High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer on his throne she also had a number of armies, her models weren't just for decoration Bloom actively used them in competitions as well as causal games with her best friend Selina, she had a number of trophies earned at said events on said shelves. In addition to these models they were joined by the manuals for their armies, as well as Bloom's library of books from Warhammer fantasy and 40k and trophies from a few local competitions, also on that shelf was her complete library of all things Tolkien and all things C.S. Lewis, any number of fantasy novels. One other shelf had all her Star Wars novels, and another her library of other sci-fi novels, another had her video cassettes and DVDs her entire room was thoroughly organized posters adorned her wall as well as many drawings that Bloom herself had drawn these ranged from sketches of grand fantasy battles to adventurers at tables playing cards and Faeries lots of Faeries, they also included a number of other things Bloom had drawn, lastly her pet rabbit Kiko slept in small bed, also at her bed side on the nightstand was the book Faeries: myth or reality.

Now Vanessa had a plan to get Bloom out of bed and this worked every time even during summer break, which it was now, also on Saturdays which today happened to be. "Bloom wake up time for school" Vanessa shouted, Bloom woke in alarm then bolted to her dresser grabbed her day clothes and ran past Vanessa down the hallway to the bathroom showered, then came back having barely put her shirt on.

"Sorry I slept in and- wait its Summer break and its Saturday" Bloom stated, then looked at her mother with annoyance.

"So it is, anyway now that you're up, breakfast is ready for you" Vanessa stated "Scrambled Eggs, toast and nice crispy bacon with you side of morning orange juice just like you like them" Vanessa continued, then Bloom dashed past her, down the stairs and to the dining room where Mike alias Lighthorn sat reading a novel, before putting it down to say "Good Morning Bloom" then resuming his reading, he had the day off for obvious reasons during the weekend, he was fireman for his day job, Vanessa had opened a flower shop; which she prized.

"Good Morning dad" Bloom responded then sat down and began to eat her breakfast, Vanessa arrived shortly walked to the pan and then deposited the freshly cooked bacon on a plate, Bloom soon had finished her breakfast and came for seconds which she soon promptly ate.

"Hey Bloom we got something for you, your father and I bought you a new bike to replace your old one and it is sitting out front" Vanessa stated, Bloom was surprised and slightly disappointed, Vanessa knew Bloom had expected a moeped like her frenemy Mitzi had, but money was tight, Vanessa couldn't just waltz into the bank and take money out of one Erasiel's accounts well she could but then she would have to explain where the money came from, money didn't just appear out of mid-air, Erasiel's accountants did keep track of his money and even though she could take withdrawal as she was listed as part of his allowed withdrawers she still had to explain to Bloom where she got the money to buy something also she hadn't gotten this far without living in her means, besides Bloom made list of things she kept for her spare time which cost a lot of money given the price of say a number of Blood Dragon knights would cost a 100 dollars and those things added up, besides Bloom wasn't the person who left the house on a regular basis to warrant the expense of a motor scooter and its upkeep which no doubt cost a fortune in gas. In spite of her disappointment, Bloom cheered up quickly.

"Hey Mom, can I go to Selina's house?" Bloom asked.

"Sure go ahead just be back before it gets dark" Vanessa stated, she wasn't worried too much about Bloom's safety due having her take a self-defense class as well as a Karate class which would allow her to beat off any one who may attack her, Vanessa also intended to buy Bloom a Gun and permit to carry it when she was old enough to buy her a fire arm, not that she hadn't taught Bloom how to use one, in fact she had last summer, and took her to range once a week for more practice, fire arms at least were cheap to maintain, mainly do a stockpile of bullets she had gotten from one of Erasiel's arms caches, she didn't completely refrain from using Erasiel's stockpiles, that were reserved for the use of friends and family, he probably knew they were being used and could easily guess it was her or any number of people using them.

Bloom left the dining room then went upstairs and grabbed her bag which she packed with her Empire Army as she intended to play a friendly match or three with Selina before playing some Battlefront on Selina's PS2, she then left and then went to her new bike which had a basket on the front which Bloom found perfect for storing her bag. She then took off down the sidewalk unaware of the arrival of Erasiel.

Erasiel had only just arrived in Gardenia a few minutes ago, he had sent Kerborg to monitor Knut and the Ghuls, while sending Gripmaw to look around for anyone with magical ability while he did the same, he had time to kill before Stella arrived, he surveyed the town walking about in his standard clothes though he kept a low profile, well as low a profile as you can keep while carrying an gold plated Relix staff with Dragon's head on it a staff which also doubled as a concealed Glaive and had a concealed sword inside. He studied the crowds and could easily tell magic users from non-magic users by their aura, magic users could see the aura of non-magic users and by doing so their true thoughts and intentions, Magic users however could conceal their aura non-intentionally or intentionally like he did his, this applied to those who could use magic but didn't know they could as well, he noted back and forth men and woman, children and teenagers he could see their auras and not, then he noticed something extremely noticeable, two young women, one on a motor scooter and the other on a bike he could hear their conversation but that didn't concern him as much as the fact he couldn't see their auras the first of two was girl named Mitzi, Mitzi had long black hair, parted on one side with braid on the right side. She had fair tanned skin and dark brown eyes covered with dark black glasses triangle lenses. Mitzi wore a green tank top with a single line being yellow in color with small cut-out sections going down the center. She also wore khaki capris and her figure was generously endowed and physically fit. She wasn't the focus of attention however that was the other girl whose name he hadn't caught but studied her intensively she was a girl with long orange-red hair that stops just above her knees, pale skin, and large cyan eyes. Her outfit was a teal crop top with dark blue trim and pale-yellow sleeves with blue slightly flared jeans that had stars on the bottom of the legs. Her shoes were yellow wedge-sandals with straps over the instep, with a figure much like that of Mitzi's but she had rather large and amazing butt in his opinion and longed to tap it. She didn't have an aura but her magical signature lit up like a Bonfire, that basically clinched it for him, forget Stella and her Ring for the moment, follow her.

Bloom finished talking with Mitzi, who had really not had much to brag about apart from disdain for Bloom's new bike which Bloom could care less about, she rode off heading towards her best shortcut to Selina's house the park, she was confident in her skills as a bike rider, in fact she casually let go of the handle bars and outstretched her arms like Christ on the cross, then continued, Erasiel followed her as fast as he could with his staff and without alarming anyone or making it look like he was stalking her which he wasn't not in that way at least, though the thought of romancing her was not out of the question but not now, then he realized as he followed her that she was heading towards the park, and then he noted that might be problem.

His fear was proved rather quickly as Bloom parked her bike, then ran off in the direction of a copse of trees, she heard the noises of battle, Erasiel heard them too, and ducked out of sight of anyone then teleported to Kerborg who was watching the affair from tree, Stella faced off against Knut in the guise of the Ogre Goldug who held a large bludgeon as well the Ghuls which moved like wolves getting ready to pounce, Stella was in her fairy form, Charmix form actually her Charmix appearance consisted of a sparkling orange one-shoulder crop top and short shorts, with knee-high boots of the same color. She wore her hair in two pigtails with orange tube ties. She also wore light blue forearm-length bands and a headband of the same color. Her wings were three leaflets with the color of powder blue with teal tips. She had the Ring of Soloria in Scepter form a long cyan-blue staff with the sun-shaped circle atop it, in one hand and it flashed with light in the other a Rapier which was of the finest quality.

The Ghuls commenced an attack like a wolf pack, Stella blasted several with light magic which caused them to disintegrate as she cut thru others like butter with her rapier which was a powerful enchanted weapon, however there were too many Ghuls and she would soon be overwhelmed, then something happened, something that would change history as far as Erasiel knew but he didn't know the full extent of it yet, Bloom charged in with a stick and yelled "Leave her alone you monsters!" then she smacked one of the Ghuls which caused it to fall over dead then disappear as if was never there, Knut didn't hesitate and shouted "GET HER!" and Ghuls complied several breaking off from attacking Stella to go after Bloom who fought them back wildly, then she began to glow "What's happening" Bloom stated, then Glow turned into fire and a roaring fiery serpentine dragon shot out of her, burning the Ghuls before taking off into the sky and disappearing, this left Erasiel blindsided and jaw-dropped, Knut and the Ghuls were terrified and Knut broke portal gem and ran off through the portal followed by the Ghuls, the portal snapped shut before Stella could follow leaving her and Bloom standing there in the groove, by the trees and leaving Erasiel stunned with his jaw gapping open, Stella fell over exhausted her form turning back to her princess outfit while the Ring of Solaria resumed its normal ring form and her rapier fell to the ground next to her, the princess outfit consisted of a bright orange crop top and a maxi orange, two tier, skirt. On her head, she wore a silver blue tiara that is very much similar to the design of the Ring of Solaria. Turquoise wings, with sea green tips, protruded from her back. Erasiel was left to study the seen stunned by what he witnessed, he wanted to ask her questions but he couldn't reveal herself not without being associated with the creatures that attacked Stella, no he could only watch, he couldn't get the Ring of Soloria from Stella for the same reasons he couldn't reveal himself, the plan had failed, the time had come for plan B and failing that plan C and so on until he had exhausted the alphabet and had to resort to numbers, but first.

"Kerborg" Erasiel stated telepathically then continued "Follow that girl keep an eye on everything she does as well as an eye on Stella, this is a development that changes a whole lot of things very quickly"

Kerborg assumed the form of a squirrel, then hopped from tree to tree, keeping his eyes on Bloom, who carried Stella over her back, then began to walk her bike and Stella home as quietly as possible.

Erasiel withdrew thru a portal back to Cloud Tower, where the Trix were grilling Knut for answers as to what went wrong. "Don't bother blaming him for something out of his control, there is new factor and an unforeseen individual who has complicated our plan, fortunately I have a backup plan" Erasiel stated.

"Well you better have one!" Stormy yelled annoyed at the failure of Knut, and glaring at Erasiel

"I do have one, and several more in case this fails, now we need to track Stella, and importantly find her before anything goes belly up" Erasiel responded.

"How do you intend to do that?" Icy asked.

"Simple we track her with a Hunting Troll, Knut grabbed a scrap of her friend's clothing in the fight, I happen to have an associate who owes me a favor, his name is Nurgash, he will be able to carry out the plan" Erasiel replied.

Later that day… Bloom had returned Stella to her parents so that they could keep an eye on Stella who was quite out of it, she was sleeping hard like a log and was drained like the fight had taken a lot out of her, Vanessa explained that there wasn't anything Bloom could do for her until she woke up, so she left, went over to Selina's house like planned, played the matches which resulted in her losing the best 5 out 6, though to be fair she made Selina change armies to her Wood Elves from the Orcs she usually played, so at least she had the moral victory and she won two of the matches, playing Battlefront and a few other activities took her mind off of both losing the last game and Stella, though she still had here worries for Stella in the back of her mind; when it got late she returned home around 8:30 where she then returned her beloved Empire army to its place on the shelf, before going to the Living room where Stella had awakened from her sleep.

Meanwhile… Knut had just arrived with Nurgash and the Ghuls ready for round two, Erasiel and the Trix insisted on waiting for nightfall to avoid any civilians who might be walking about, the Blue skinned Nurgash towered over the Ghuls but not Knut. They moved forward when suddenly Knut received a sharp blow to the head followed by the yells of the Ghuls, and the sudden yanking of a portal stone, Nurgash had betrayed them! He yanked on the stone but Nurgash drew a dagger from his back and cut off Knut's hand, before yanking the stone and Knut's arm towards him, tearing the arm out of its socket, Knut roared in pain and Nurgash muttered under his breath then smashed the portal stone and ran thru an open portal. Knut had another stone, but he was in too much pain at the moment to use it, the pain soon subsided as his arm regrew thanks to his regeneration, Knut then picked up his formerly attached arm which Nurgash had thrown on the ground before bellowing out orders to the Ghuls, then they withdrew.

While this event was going on Kerborg had continued his orders to watch and listen to the Girl and Stella, he had new information for starters the girl was named Bloom, secondly, she was unaware of her Magical abilities before today, third he noted that Stella had invited her to Alfea, Kerborg continued his monitoring.

Knut returned instead of receiving a chewing out from the Trix he received genuine concern for the fact his arm was being carried by him and that Nurgash was absent. "Nurgash betrayed us, he stole a portal stone and ran off, I tried to stop him, but he smashed some of the Ghuls and ripped out my arm" Knut explained.

"This is bad, now what do we do?" Stormy asked.

"For one we need to find Nurgash and see to it that he pays for his treachery secondly I need to devise a plan C to get Stella's ring, thirdly I need to think on everything that has happened today: I'll send Gripmaw to look for Nurgash, and more importantly I will look into this new anomaly; this girl could be a powerful ally or a dangerous threat she is a mystery, there hasn't been a new fairy on Earth for centuries and that one would suddenly appear is a matter worth investigating, for now it is best to get some rest, tomorrow we will see what we can do" Erasiel responded, there was no disagreement, they had spent most of the day training and monitoring the plan, now the time had come for sleep.


	4. Arc 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Winx You're Magic Now

The new day dawned, Erasiel had woken up before the Trix do to the return of Kerborg who had delivered his report, Erasiel now had an idea of what was going on, and more importantly the name of the mystery girl, who had just recently arrived at Alfea, her name was Bloom; an interesting name and a familiar one; maybe the same person he was thinking of, but there was only a few ways to be sure; also he had to gain her trust before anything could be done regarding his theory.

Kerborg also had told him that the portal stone had only taken Nurgash a few blocks from their position and that he had attacked the nearest house, which unfortunately had been Bloom's now there was major inconvenience, the attack had failed and Nurgash had been captured by the Specialists, which was a major development and one he had to correct and correct quickly before he blabbed, which left him with only a one option Nurgash had to die.

Right now Erasiel was in the Black Marsh Swamp, the Trix were at Cloud Tower in their classes, he had been following a transport that had Nurgash on board along with a team of specialists, different from the ones who captured Nurgash, but he now had more loose ends that need tying up, Gripmaw would take care of the ship, he had infiltrated the crew by killing one of the Specialists when they had stopped at the Spaceport to refuel and turn their quarry over to a the different team that now manned the ship he had made sure they were over the swamp to make sure any rescue team had to deal with the terrain as well as the local Goblin tribes that inhabited the swamp.

On the Shuttle…. Gripmaw had assumed his guise, then made sure that the coast was clear before pulling off his sabotage, he headed to engine killed the engineer by pulling off his head and began to rip apart the navigation and other systems to ensure a shuttle crash. "It would have been easier to blow the ship up, but no you had to insist on an accident" Gripmaw complained telepathically.

"Too messy and importantly too obvious, best they think that Nurgash escaped, caused the ship to crash and then make the whole thing look like it was his fault, which it is because he decided to go rogue in the first place" Erasiel responded, Gripmaw continued his work, he had transformed to Nurgash to make it look like a Troll had trashed the place, then ripped out the power to the cell-block allowing Nurgash to escape, he had already blinded the camera in that cellblock allow him full run of the ship in Nurgash's form killing any specialist he came across in the hallways, he soon took out the stabilizers and then auxiliary stabilizers, only when the ship began to turn belly up did he leave.

The ship crashed downward, to Erasiel's annoyance it didn't burn on impact, but it did smash down, he had Gripmaw follow Nurgash to make sure the Troll didn't get too far into the marsh, soon Erasiel intercepted him, he turned into his battle form and then cast spell on Nurgash before he could react. "Burning flare of light, dawn take you and be stone to you!" Erasiel yelled, Nurgash's blue skin hardened into rock, becoming a stone statue, Gripmaw landed on his shoulder as Erasiel smirked behind his war mask, he then heard a shout of "Why did you do that?!" and he turned to fine the source of the voice, a lovely specialist who was unscathed from the crash she was young attractive, she had short spiked magenta colored hair and violet eyes, she was dressed in a blue and white uniform with a blue cape, the gem on the cape clasp was dark red. In her right hand was a Phantoblade, the Phantoblade was a fuchsia saber, in her left hand was a shield, she looked ready to fight. "Hello, don't mind me I am just friendly neighborhood troll-hunter" Erasiel responded, he knew that that Specialist wouldn't buy that one, but he was buying time, so he could think of a better plan, this wasn't something he expected his plan didn't account for survivors, he made sure Gripmaw killed the crew before the crash.

"I don't believe you, you had something to do with the crash, didn't you?" the Specialist asked.

"Nope" Erasiel lied, even if he wasn't wearing his war mask she wouldn't be able to tell if he was lying as he had no sign for it, but she didn't believe him anyway, and began to charge him, he gracefully drew his sword from his staff then passed it to Gripmaw, before materializing his shield from its storage dimension; the proud crest of House Darkar bold on the front before receiving the charge from the specialist and the fight began.

The fight was a decent warm up as far as Erasiel was concerned, his opponent attacked him furious abandon, he gracefully parried, blocked and dodged her attacks, he had no intention of killing her but rather convincing her to join his side thru a test strength, despite the fight being a warm up as far as he was concerned his opponent was quite formidable and was no slouch in when came to swordsmanship, she was not as graceful as a Solorian fencer but had the attacking ferocity of a Marauder champion fused with the agility of an elven sword master, not that his opponent was an Elf or a Marauder. "You are quite a formidable opponent, but you are out of your league, I've fought more enemies then you could dream of, I have millennia of combat experience, I fought in the Phoenix wars all 16 of them, I defeated the reborn Demon-lord Demise, I have fought the Ancestral witches by myself for five months during the fall of Domino, I have slain Dragons, Waylors, Ettins, Hydras and Manticores and even more ferocious monstrosities, I have defeated Arch-Demons, Greater Daemons of all four of Dark Chaos gods, vanquished countless armies and death can never truly claim me, I am Phoenix of the most prestigious house Darkar, I am Erasiel son of Argulus Darkar and Avarra Brightstone, the herald and consort of Asha the Phoenix Queen I will not be defeated by you, nor can you ever dream of beating me" Erasiel responded as he had gotten bored of the fight, and with sudden flurry of parries disarmed his opponent knocking her blade out of her hands into a swamp bush.

The specialist had been knocked to the ground she expected to be swiftly executed, to her surprise the creature that had carried the staff of the mysterious warrior returned, then the warrior's shield vanished, he took the staff from the creature and put the blade back into the staff and lifted up his face mask revealing his handsome face before walking to her and surprising outstretched his hand to her. "Come on, take it, I'll help you up" Erasiel stated she reluctantly accepted the hand and he pulled her up without effort in his part. "I never kill a worthy opponent much less one who had no idea who they were fighting or why they thought it was good idea to fight me in the first place, anyway I'm Erasiel Nathan Darkar, refer to me as Nathan, I reserve my first name for those who have known me for a century" Erasiel stated looking the Specialist in the eyes.

"Why didn't you kill me? I tried to kill you, what do you have to do with all this?" the Specialist asked.

"For starters, I already explained I am honorable in that I don't kill people unnecessarily much less people who are foolish enough to attack me without cause, I had no intention of killing you; as to my purpose for being here, troll hunting, I have been out here for hours searching for one, until now no trolls, now this one is a good stone stiff, perfect for a lawn decoration or a museum piece; provided you can carry it, as for introductions I have given you my name why don't you introduce yourself" Erasiel responded.

"I'm Riven, I am taken aback by this whole situation, my apologies, my ship crashed, everyone else died, that troll escaped, you killed it, we were expecting to get answers out of it for why it was on- never mind that isn't relevant now that it's dead" Riven responded.

"I saw your ship crash, this must be the culprit" Erasiel stated pointing at the Troll, Riven didn't get to respond as a loud explosion shook the bog, the ship's reactor had blown up leaving a towering pillar of smoke. "I do believe that was what was left off your ship" Erasiel said rhetorically

"Yes, that was definitely the sound of a reactor blowing up, I'm sorry I got you raked up into this" Riven responded, Erasiel turned into his civilian garb.

"No problem indeed" Erasiel stated shaking her hand, she was unaware of the injection from his ring which resonated pheromones from him, not enough to cause her to fall in love with him, but enough to put her at ease and to trust him.

"Come on I can get you back to Red Fountain the Headmaster is a friend of mine we will see about those injuries" Erasiel stated, he picked up her Phantoblade and tossed to her from the bush it had landed in.

"Thanks for your offer to help, I really mean it, is there anything I can do for you" Riven asked.

"Well actually there are a couple things I you could do for me, I need someone to keep me in touch with the goings on at Red Fountain also I would like your phone number" Erasiel responded, Riven agreed handing him a copy of her number which Erasiel recorded into his phone, she then surprised him by kissing him on the cheek.

"That is for beating me in combat, nobody has beaten me with such ease and been so nice about it, also that's for sparing my life" Riven responded, Erasiel left with her.

Meanwhile at Alfea…. Bloom had arrived a few hours earlier and currently was using an alias of a friend of Stella's by the name of Princess Veranda of Calisto which she wondered if she was referring to Jupiter's moon, which had the same name or to some different planet altogether which she assumed might be the more likely option, she hadn't gotten the opportunity to ask before running into Deputy Headmistress Griselda; a completely rude woman who was very bossy; Bloom had strong dislike for her even though she only doing her job, she felt a lot like a former substitute teacher she had in middle-school, a shrew of woman named Mrs. Krebb who looked like the Headmistress of some rotten orphanage and she was twice as mean, fortunately Mrs. Krebb got what for when Mitzi and her friends and bunch of other students Bloom included toilet papered and egged her house one of the rare occurrences when she agreed with Mitzi on something, the shrew herself was never seen in her class again, hopefully someone would put Griselda in her place, even though Griselda looked rather young, a beautiful woman who wore glasses and had short pixie cut brown hair brown eyes, and dressed in clothes that were rather simple but looked a bit old-fashioned, her demeanor and posture and tone of voice made her think she was as old as mean old Mrs. Krebb if not way older, also she had a feathery teal tail like that of a bird but is had great plumage like a peacock's tail, so despite how human she looked she was anything but.

Ms. Griselda aside, Alfea was great and fun, way better than her old High School, it didn't have Mitzi so that was improvement already, it was very much like something out a novel, she had enjoyed the Harry Potter books and wished she could go off to some school to learn magic, now she had, and it was everything she could have imagined. She arrived at her dorm shortly after and met her roommate or rather her roommate's talking plant first, then her actual roommate, a nature fairy by the name of Flora who was unique in appearance she had tan skin, which made her look quite Latina in appearance, with narrow jade eyes, long honey brown hair with blonde within her bangs, her outfit consisted of a green midriff, off-the-shoulder top with puffy sleeves, a fuchsia colored faux wrap short skirt decorated with strawberries, two sets of yellow bangle bracelets on each arm, and fuchsia colored platform sandals, her figure was quite busty but also athletically slender with the grace of a ballerina. She said she was from another planet it was called Lynphea and that is was nature world and the people lived in harmony with nature as best that they could, building their homes in the trees themselves rather than from them, she told her that her world was populated by not just the Lynphian's themselves but also creatures of nature; Wood Elves, Unicorns, Satyrs, Fauns, Centaurs, Dryads, Faeries, Nymphs, walking Huorn Trees, and Ents, even mighty green Dragons, the amount of creatures of fantasy made Bloom joyous that so many of the creatures of myth were real, she also learned that Lynphea was ruled by a Queen and that people loved their ruler, and they had rather queer rules when it came to love, as well as a number of other things, however just because they lived in harmony with nature didn't mean they were vegetarians they ate meat though in moderation much like the Elves did. Flora was quite happy to help Bloom set up her stuff which she had brought from Earth; Her books, her Warhammer models, her games, her posters and her clothes in her wardrobe, also importantly her Rabbit Keko's bed while the little guy was bouncing about looking into Flora's stuff followed by losing a fight to Flora when he tried to go after her plants, the non-talking ones, which resulted in a lecture from Bloom to Keko who wasn't happy at all with that part of the Room's rules. Soon after she was introduced to her other roommates as her room was only one of five rooms and central room for dining, the other rooms were dorm rooms, one of which was empty and would most likely be filled in the future, the other two were occupied by her other roommates, Stella was one of them and she had an entire room to herself, mainly due to the amount of things she owned and had with her; the other room that was occupied belonged to her two other roommates: Musa and Tecna, the faeries of Music and Technology.

They came from different planets as well, Musa came from world called Melody were the entire society was influence by Music to an extreme extent to a point that their religion was devoted to achieving harmony in one's self and one's music, the world was also populated by Elves, in the southern Hemisphere also Dwarves lived in the mountains near Musa's home city, the Royal City of Harmony, where the king of Melody ruled, Musa was related to the royal family thru her father, but he had given up that claim and life a more modest life, Musa refused to elaborate further on her family her appearance was as likewise described Musa is a girl with fair skin, blackish blue hair, blue eyes, her hair was tied in two short pigtails that resembled bells with her bangs straight, her outfit consisted of a red one strap top, one purple colored armband that alternates being placed either upon her right (usual) or left arm, baggy jeans that sagged often enough that someone could see her pink underwear, though she didn't seem to notice or care and Bloom didn't bring up the issue, and red sneakers.

Tecna was far more reserved then Musa on that topic telling her only that her parents were important and that it really didn't matter, in fact Tecna was so reserved that Bloom didn't see her show any emotion in either her voice or face during her conversations with her, Tecna explained that it was due to people on her planet being so logical. Her home world Zenith was one of the most advanced worlds in the Magic Dimension and the people were extremally logical and methodical, they didn't believe in showing their emotions due to they believed it wasted time best spent thinking and it was more logical to think then to convey what you were thinking, Zenith was also a cold world, an ice planet to be more precise, as to how her people lived there since they first were created Bloom had no idea and Tecna shrugged at the question explaining that their people had always lived there. He people were so intertwined with technology that had adapted it into magic, to an extent that few other races had, only the Dwarves Tecna said were more intertwined with Technology then the people of Zenith, but not in the magic sense that Zenithians were, more than that the Dwarves used their Tech to augment their magic and augment with their magic whereas the Zenithians magic combined raw magical energy with technology for a unique one-two punch, their use of magic and technology allowed them to advance at a rate that few other peoples had, achieving space flight 200 years after their invention of the wheel, and had made advances in computers and robotics that people on Earth would think was science-fiction. Her Appearance was as follows Tecna is a girl with magenta colored, asymmetrical bob-styled hair, teal eyes, and fair skin tone. Her face was emotionless and indifferent, her outfit consisted of a soft purple and lime green vest top, soft purple flared fitted cropped pants and shoes of the same color. The lime green triangular zipper functions as a pager that can project images into the air.

Considering the differences between herself and her new roommates she was amazed that she got along so well with them for a girl from a remote world where most people didn't believe in magic, also that she was able to convince to go out to eat with her, though she had to explain the concept of Pizza to Flora who didn't have it on Lynphea, all of her friends apart from Stella were 16, Stella was 17 but she said she had been held back do to accidently blowing up Professor Gelt's Alchemy class, which meant she had to make up the extra year, so of her new roommates and friends Stella was the oldest and most likely to cause something to go horribly wrong.

Bloom and company had no idea Kerborg was watching their every move, Erasiel had instructed him to continue his observations of Bloom, and he had told Erasiel of Bloom's plans to go out to eat, which Erasiel was keen to follow up with taking Trix with him to the same place they were going so as to keep a close eye on them himself. The dinner was as normal as one could be, Everyone ordered their planned meal and drink and enjoyed themselves, the Bloom and Company had no idea Erasiel was hearing everything they were saying from across the room, he was learning as much he could as were the Trix; he was looking for an opportunity to get his hands on Stella's ring without anyone getting suspicious, Erasiel then had an idea, it would solve the Bloom monitoring problem and gaining her trust with the same stone; he would have one of the Trix befriend Bloom and learn more about her; also he had warned the Trix in advance that Bloom would be using an alias so to avoid complicating matters.

Now the question was which Trix sister would be the one to gain Bloom's trust and the trust of her friends: Stormy no, too hot headed and more likely to cause problems then not; Icy: might work but she was too cold and distant to do the job, besides Fire and Ice didn't mix well; Darcy was the best option, she was most friendly of the Trix and the most approachable: also she was neither hot-headed or cold; she also had proven her skill at gaining someone's trust with Stella and the whole Oracle routine and had proven she was the best with people according to her records. Erasiel whispered his instructions to Darcy, who agreed, nodding after taking a drink from her Diet Coke; he would have her do it when Bloom was well more likely to be open to trusting Darcy; in other words, before the whole Witch-Fairy rivalry became ingrained into Bloom's mind: as in right now. Darcy approached Bloom's table with casual grace, introduced herself and began making small-talk with Bloom after she had overridden protests to not talk to witches; Bloom took offense to the stereo-typing as not all Witches were bad in Fairy tales, also that Darcy looked nothing like the witches that came to her mind when the word was use, in fact she felt like Darcy was a good witch, something Erasiel intended to have her be.

That conversation went on until everyone's food was brought, after which Darcy gave Bloom her phone number and went back to her table, to begin eating her dinner and continue to drink her Diet Coke. The Food on Magix was from all over the Magic Dimension but also included food from Earth, which Erasiel had the monopoly of suppling as he was the only one subtle enough to actually get the stuff off Earth without anyone being suspicious of where it was going. The dinner soon ended, and the groups went their separate ways. Soon Bloom and Friends returned to Alfea where they were surprised by Griselda waiting for them at the gate, alongside another woman, a beautiful woman with spiky teal blue hair and wearing circular lensed glasses with purple lenses and Gold frames, these completely covered her eyes and eye sockets, she wore a long-sleeved pink shirt with ruffles at the tips and a navy-blue vest with a white trim, puffed sleeves, and a single violet button. She also wore a long pink skirt with ruffles near her ankles. Her shoes were black high heels with yellow buckles her figure was the same as Griffin.

"Stop right there and go no farther, you Veranda step forward right now" Griselda stated, and Bloom complied. "I have done some book-keeping and checking and found out that the real Princess Veranda of Calisto arrived late to Alfea after changing her mind about transferring to Beta Academy, now either there are two Princess Verandas or one of you is lying, and I cline to believe the young woman with long purple hair, tan skin and orange round lensed glasses who arrived earlier with royal retinue dropping her off and was dressed in regal clothing, so now who are you?" Griselda inquired, Bloom then told the truth that she wasn't Princess Veranda and that she was just some girl from Earth that saved Stella's life and came to Alfea with her without enrolling.

"This a conundrum Griselda" the other woman stated.

"Indeed, it is Headmistress Faragonda, and I am of a mind to throw her out right now and wipe her memory of the whole thing" Griselda retorted.

"You will do no such thing Griselda" Erasiel stated coming out from behind Bloom in his regular attire staff in hand.

"What are you doing here?!" Griselda yelled annoyed at the sudden arrival of Erasiel.

"Preventing you from making an irreparable mistake my impertinent daughter, Bloom if you would come forward" Erasiel stated, giving Griselda a glare that would have stopped a stampeding herd of rhinos.

"Who are you?" Bloom asked.

"Erasiel Nathan Darkar, call me Nathan, I have seen what you are capable, and we cannot risk you going uneducated about your magical abilities" Erasiel responded.

"Wait Erasiel what do you have to do with all this" Faragonda asked curious about this new development.

"Yes, Father what do you have to do with all this" Griselda added.

Erasiel glared at Griselda then began to explain. "First off Griselda one more quip from you like that and you are grounded young lady; secondly I have been monitoring Bloom for some time, I went to Earth recently looking around for people with magical potential when Bloom caught my eye, her magical energy lit up like a bonfire so I dropped my previous business and followed her to a grove where she and Stella fought an Ogre and some Ghuls; I didn't intervene because I was curious as to what Bloom was doing, well she charged in killed one of the Ghuls with a branch, then after more came to attack her she unleashed a fiery dragon from within her which killed the Ghuls and sent the others running like rabbits being chased by hounds; I didn't do anything but have Kerborg keep her under surveillance just in case she got into trouble that was way out of her league, I recently came here the moment Kerborg saw you two block Bloom and start questioning her" Erasiel explained.

"This is an interesting story, I am surprised however about this, Bloom may not have enrolled properly but I will make an exception for her, not just because of her magical ability but because she is first Earth Fairy to come to Alfea in decades" Faragonda responded.

"This is highly I- "Griselda started to say before Erasiel cut her off.

"Don't you contradict your mother Griselda; side note you're grounded" Erasiel responded, leaving her dumb-founded and surprised. "Welcome to Alfea College for Faeries Bloom" Erasiel stated to Bloom casually, then transformed into his bird form, gripped his staff in both talons and flew off, a stream of purple fire in his wake across the sky like a comet's trail.

"Who was he?" Bloom asked.

"An Enigma, Erasiel Darkar, he is the head of the Wizard's Council, they are in charge of the Colleges of Magic and are the final say on anything related to them including who ends up getting in; his word is as good as formal acceptance letter Bloom, as he said: Welcome to Alfea College for Faeries Bloom" Faragonda stated, then allowed the Winx to pass in without further objections from Griselda.

They continued back to their dorms, then began to discuss everything that had happened when they finished they began to talk about something else. "We should really hang out more, we would make a great team, how about we call our group something" Flora inquired.

"Yes, how about something like Stella's Angels" Stella chimed.

"Or Harmonious Friends" Musa chimed in too.

"Girls I think we should let Bloom come up with a name" Flora responded.

"I second that notion, Bloom what do you think of for a name, do you like my suggestion, Musa's suggestion or have one of your own" Stella asked Bloom, who was about to draw.

"I have an idea" Bloom stated then began to draw a few minutes later she showed the results of her picture a team logo you could call it. "How about Winx Club?" Bloom asked.

"I like the idea it's catchy, we are faeries we have wings" Flora responded.

"I like the idea too, but it needs a cool theme song" Musa responded.

"I love it!" Stella exclaimed.

"I agree with your decision" Tecna responded non-plused by the whole discussion.

"So here we are now, Winx we're magic now!" Bloom shouted, and everyone laughed, Erasiel winked outside the window of the room.

"And so, it begins Kerborg" Erasiel stated to the faceless on his shoulder and then smiled.


	5. Arc 1 Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Alfea College for Faeries

The new day dawned, and Bloom studied her schedule, the classes were listed in order of periods: the first being Charms and Transmogrification with Professor Whizgiz, the next being Magic and practical applications of it with Professor Dufour, followed by the study of Magical creatures with Professor Palladium, then finally Alchemy with Professor Gelt, according to the periods a number of classes were electives and also lacked current Professors due to staff changes. After studying her schedule Bloom double checked her stuff to make sure everything she brought with her was there and wasn't in any bad condition, after checking all the essentials she and Flora left alongside the rest of the Winx to go to their classes.

Meanwhile at Cloud Tower Erasiel was lost in thought and the Trix had gone to their classes, he had much to think about; mostly the recent developments and a new plan to get his hands on Stella's ring long enough to copy it and return it: the later was difficult to figure out mostly because he was focused on the prior and specifically Bloom: she was an unknown factor and something more, he wasn't sure but he had a hunch and it would take time for him to know for certain, mainly all he had to do if Bloom was who he thought she was, is simply have watch and see how things developed; if she was really the same Bloom who was the Princess of Domino and the sister of Daphne and daughter of Oritel and Marion she would most likely be drawn to her past indirectly: something he was not going to rush as he had no way of guaranteeing for certain she was who he thought she was short of a DNA test which she wouldn't take from a complete stranger, also there was another factor that of Thoren but that would come much later if she was who he thought she was; later being if she visited Soloria and was the Bloom who was Princess of Domino, he would introduce them, but until that happened it was best that Thoren didn't get involved; no need to give him hope where there may not be hope; however there was the fact of the magic used was clearly the eternal flame which made it more likely she was the princess of Domino, but then he couldn't be certain.

The day went on rather normally at Alfea, well as normal as it could be in dimension where magic was real and super advanced technology was there and fully developed and being added to. To Bloom classes where either well behaved or in the case of Professor Palladium's class out of control; despite the wood elf's best efforts to keep everyone focused on the lesson, most of the class was already restless after Professor Dufour's lessons where she was more focused on behavior then on magic. Anything Palladium had to say regarding magical creatures Bloom couldn't hear over the constant gossiping of the three girls behind her and Stella's constant mumbling about trying to remove a hangnail from her thumb, also she was pretty sure Musa was phased out by something that made her look sad. The bell soon rang, and everyone left.

"Well I'm certainly hoping Alchemy will be better off then study of Magical creatures, I couldn't hear a thing over you Stella, and the three girls in back" Bloom chatted.

"Don't worry Professor Gelt is the no nonsense type, nobody misbehaves around him" Flora responded.

"Yes, Professor Gelt (he-he)" Stella stammered and giggled with a look of fear in her eyes.

"What's wrong Stella" Bloom stated.

"Oh, not much only he had me held back" Stella responded. "I'm the only one in our group that is 17, I got held back after an incident last year" she continued.

"What kind of incident?" Bloom asked.

"Oh, I blew up the Alchemy class on accident, he was extremely angry with me after that, also I basically failed the makeup assignments and extra homework that followed afterwards, Bloom whatever you do don't get on Professor Gelt's bad side he is not someone you want to anger, in fact it is probably for the best that we don't sit next to each other in class so he doesn't get the wrong idea" Stella stated then soon the Winx had arrived at the Alchemy Classroom, which had numerous tubes, beakers and other alchemical equipment as well as Cauldrons on each desk and well stocked shelves of alchemical ingredients, in the center of the room was Gelt's desk and Professor rose from it, he was rather tall about 6 feet in fact however that wasn't his most distinguishing trait the golden and crimson robes he wore only served to emphasize his golden face mask which was emotionless, also several spikes protruded from it those being decorative he also wore clock that was golden in appearance. "Welcome to Alchemy class students take you seats" Balthazar Gelt stated, everyone sat down at the chairs. "For tomorrow's lesson we will be taking field trip; not for fun but this field trip is for the most important stage of Alchemy; gathering ingredients. oh, and before you ask no we will not be learning how to turn lead or iron into gold today, that is still long ways of especially for Freshmen and especially you Stella" He continued glaring at Stella, Bloom was awestruck; in fact, more than awestruck essentially she had met a living breathing person who had been depicted in one of her Empire books. "For today's lesson we will learn how to make potions that focus magical energy allow the one who drinks them to use more powerful spells, we will start with the simple ones however as we have a batch of new students now take your seats" he concluded, everyone sat down, Bloom following Stella's advice and not sitting near her but rather sitting by Flora and Musa, everyone else had assumed their seats. "The time has come for role everyone say present as I say your name" Balthazar stated having picked up a clipboard and pen, the role followed in alphabetical order, he seemed to stop however when he came to Bloom.

"Here Professor" Bloom stated calmly, holding back her desire to ask him about him being the genuine real Balthazar Gelt, Supreme Patriarch of the Altdorf Colleges of Magic and one the most powerful spellcasters in the Warhammer fantasy battles universe, however there was a pause as if Professor Gelt was considering something, it was brief Bloom couldn't tell though what he was thinking do to his golden mask which concealed any emotion, that was if it was a mask and not his face, Bloom didn't want to dwell on that last part and after getting it out of her head Professor Gelt had already moved on to other people in the role. After role class proceeded in a way that was the exact opposite of Professor Palladium's class which had been riotous by comparison. Soon class ended, and everyone was released, and Bloom was stopped by Stella.

"Hey Bloom I just got the word that there is going to be a dance tonight, to welcome all the new students and I heard that the Red Fountain Specialists were invited, anyway I must see to getting a proper outfit for the occasion and I need to get you up to date on the latest news in the Magic Dimension" Stella stated and Bloom was soon dragged away by Stella and they ended up back in their dorm, where Stella handed Bloom a magazine of the latest news in the Magic Dimension. Bloom examined the magazine.

"So alright this is pretty graphic" Bloom noted looking at the image of angry blue haired princess clad in an elaborate dress throwing ice shards out of her hands at a terrified man of the same age whom Bloom assumed to be a Prince.

"What is, oh no I gave you the one I haven't read yet, hand it here and let me see" Stella responded yanking the magazine out of Bloom's hand. "Oh, this is so typical but still outstanding, apparently Princess Esdeath of Whisperia rejected another suiter, but she broke his arms in the process of throwing him out" Stella noted.

"So, this has happened before?" Bloom asked puzzled

"Of course it has, Princess Esdeath of Whisperia is currently the most eligible bachelorette in the Magic Dimension but also the most dangerous, her father is the Emperor of Whisperia and she has quite a list of accomplishments, anyway her father has been trying for three years now to marry her off but she has rejected every suitor that has come her way, either with a simple no or violently hurting them or in a few cases killing them, it would have started so many wars weren't for the fact everyone is too scared of the Empire of Whisperia to try, every prince, lordling, king and noble is out for her hand but she has so far rejected them all, looks like Prince Gortos of Loraton is no exception to this, which is a shame because she broke his sword arm" Stella answered.

"Wow she must make her father really angry" Bloom responded,

"She does but she doesn't care, and he could care less, as she is his heir and she happens to be the head of Whisperia's military and one of the most powerful Witches in the Magic Dimension; not to mention the list of her achievements and powerful magical artifacts she has in her possession on top of that she has a two-headed Dragon for a mount and pet" Stella responded back to Bloom who was shocked at the mention of a Two-headed Dragon.

"So, do you think she will ever get married?" Bloom asked Stella after she had recovered from shock.

" Yes but not any time soon, as she has already gone thru 185 suitors, and not to anyone she doesn't want to be married to; I do bet though that when she does decide who'll she'll marry her father won't do anything to stop it or care who she marries; but for the moment is he is content to keep going through every noble in the Magic Dimension until he finds one she'll marry and at the moment she is his biggest foreign policy crisis!" Stella responded and they both laughed at that, they were unaware however of the Faceless currently watching them and relaying everything to Erasiel, who while interested in Whisperia's politics was more interested in the fact that there would soon be a party later that night one he intended to use to his advantage.

Erasiel waited in the Trix's room as the three sisters were busy doing a variety of tasks to keep themselves entertained, soon a loudspeaker boomed inside the room startling all three Trix sisters and causing them to jolt up from whatever they had been doing, Erasiel was unfazed by the noise and listened to the message. "Attention Cloud Tower students, once again Alfea College is hosting a dance for new students with the Red Fountain Specialists, and once again the Witches of Cloud Tower have not been invited this year, there is only one thing for it and that is to continue our time honored tradition of pranks for the party; all students are encouraged to come up with the most dastardly prank for the event, applicants with such plans need only come to my office to receive my approval, the student with the best Prank and successful prank will receive extra credit in their worse scoring class for the rest of the year" Griffin's signature voice bellowed over the intercom.

"That sounds like fun!" Stormy yelled.

"It also sounds like an opportunity to get Stella's ring" Icy stated.

"All right then we have to think of plan now" Darcy responded, the three turned to Erasiel for ideas.

"I agree but in order to pull this off we are going to need information, I've got a way to get said information and you three well just need to sit tight, I need to make a phone call" Erasiel responded, then proceeded out of the room, down the hallway past a number of witches who were studying him with obvious interest and then went to the nearest bench, avoiding any hazards that came with sitting on a bench in school for Witches. Erasiel then picked up his Cell Phone and dialed the number he had received yesterday from Riven calling her.

At Red Fountain Riven answered her phone, "Riven, oh it's you Nathan"

"Indeed, it is, I was wondering about the dance tonight?" Erasiel responded.

"Oh that, a dance for Faeries and Specialist, fine if you are into that sort of thing, I'm not into girls nor are any of the guys at Red Fountain interesting to me, is this an invite to a date?" Riven responded.

"It is if you want it to be" Erasiel responded semi-cryptically.

"Well I'm for it, I didn't have anything else planned for the evening anyway, and if you're willing to go with me I have no problems" Riven responded.

"Yes, I'm willing, but I have a question about the dance, anything interesting happening?" Erasiel responded.

"Glad you accept, as to anything interesting, not much; the headmaster had this idea about give presents to the faeries from the specialists, not interested in that for obvious reasons but other than that not much" Riven responded.

"What kind of presents?" Erasiel asked.

"Hang on and I'll send you a picture" Riven responded, then hung up, a few minutes later Erasiel received a text with an image attached; a Golden egg decorated with stars. Erasiel called her back

"Lightspark Eggs, how novel and yet simple" Erasiel responded.

"Yes, and I have no idea why Headmaster Saladin is bothering to give them out in the first place" Riven responded.

"Thanks that's all I needed see you at the dance, I'll be there" Erasiel responded then hung up, he now had a plan; all he needed now was a scapegoat to take the blame, preferably one that would sow distrust in the faeries with regards to the Specialists; he knew what Saladin was planning with the Eggs and he had no intention of allowing it: the idea of Specialists dating so many of the lovely faeries of Alfea, that disgusted him and such relationships would not be fitting his plans whatsoever, not that he didn't object to marriages of love, but he hated when others tried to set up said relationship; also Specialists and Faeries as allies; no that wouldn't be good for what he had planned either, he intended to have Cloud Tower-Alfea Alliance specifically one in which Specialists who has disdain witches took second place, on top of that there was the fact many of those eligible Specialists came from noble families whose only interest was in seeing a marriage that strengthened them only.

Erasiel then left and snatched a Lightspark Egg from the shop before returning to Cloud Tower and the Trix, who were in the process of debating the most effective way to prank an entire school; their current plan involved cookies with a nasty spell to turn the eater into a frog for an hour. "That is an excellent plan for a later date, remember we want to cause a diversion here; also, it needs a plan to escape blame" Erasiel stated then dropped the Egg on the table.

"What's that?" Darcy asked.

"It's an egg Darcy" Stormy responded with annoyance and pointing out the obvious; "What is this some sort present for us?" she asked afterward.

"No, it is a piece of a plan, I called an associate of mine at Red Fountain and found out more about the dance; specifically, that the Specialists intend to give one of these to every fairy at Alfea; think of that as a starter" Erasiel responded, Darcy opened the egg and sparkle of lights emerged from it.

"Really this thing, they are giving one of these to every fairy; that is perfect; all we need to do is replace the eggs with something else" Darcy stated puzzled.

"What do we replace it with? Wait I know: poisonous snakes!" Stormy chimed in with a wicked smirk.

"No Stormy; too obvious and too dangerous, besides we were saving that spell for dealing with the rats in the utility closet; How about something nasty but not deadly like crows" Icy suggested.

"Great idea Icy, now all we need is a scapegoat I'll find one and be right back" Erasiel stated and left the room; he then pulled up a copy of the registry for Red Fountain to look for an obvious troublemaker; someone no one would miss and would be perfect to take the blame, after a few minutes of searching he found the perfect scapegoat: an idiot by the name Lucius Leary; a trouble maker who had a history of trouble even out of school, he also had a respectable and wealthy father who got him into Red Fountain; the guy had credit cards too, which Erasiel soon swiped; then disguised himself as Leary and purchased as many Lightspark Eggs as the store had left in stock then bought more from elsewhere until he had enough for his purposes, before returning to the Trix as himself.

"Now time for the plan itself; I will enter the dance from the front undercover to keep watch out front and make sure to put the eggs in Lucius Leary's bag, you three will infiltrate the school from the catacombs; no one will expect you coming from there also everyone should be outside but just in case make sure you aren't seen" Erasiel explained before Darcy interjected "Not be seen, piece of cake" before turning herself invisible.

"Wait can't we just go in the main gate?" Stormy asked.

"Too risky, besides I have an excuse to be there I have a date; now the plan from you three entering is to first head to Stella's room and grab the ring if it's there and replace it with this replica; it is functionally identical apart from the fact it isn't magical; then from there move on and turn the eggs into well real eggs with crows in them as planned; then exit by the way you came in; if the Ring isn't there don't go looking for Stella to take it from her, the Ring is secondary here; it's a case of its there then take it if it's not forget it" Erasiel continued to explain the Trix paid attention to detail and soon after going over the plan several more times and taking all advice they soon were ready, all the had to do now was wait for the dance to start.

Later that Evening...

Erasiel arrived at Alfea thru the front gate dressed in formal robes of the kind expected by a wizard attending a dance, though he wore no hat; he viewed hats as something you shouldn't wear to a dance or to any formal events. Erasiel immediately studied the surroundings the party was in full swing: Specialists and Faeries mingled and, in some cases, danced, then out of the corner of his eye he spotted the Winx: as they were calling themselves now; he liked the name it was catchy. He studied all five of them carefully and intensely; Bloom was wearing a light two-piece outfit that consisted of a crop top, detached sleeves with longs strings flowing from them, and a pencil skirt. Flora's outfit was a pink, floor-length dress with deep green decorations and a darker pink bodice. In her hair she wore vines of the same color and a pink rose. Her hair is in pigtail buns. Her shoes weren't visible. Stella's formal dress was a dark orange, halter neck style, top with a jewel in the center. The dress also consisted of a dark orange skirt and a pale orange under skirt underneath. Her headband was orange. She also wore light blue bracelets on her arms, and a light blue scarf on her neck. Her shoes were not visible, but he assumed they were same blue sandals that she wore with that dress; he recognized as being similar to the one she wore when she had transformed out of her Charmix form in the park. Musa's dress was exotic and certainly the latest in Melodian fashion her dress was a kimono-styled ensemble composed of a pair of flared pants in a fuchsia color with red swirls at the end. The pants were long enough to hide her shoes from sight. Her shirt was inverted of these colors, with it being a red, shoulder less flowy top with large dangle cuffs and fuchsia swirls at the cuffs and hem. The top was belted at the waist with a dark blue obi and gold strings. Her headdress was a red collar connected to the shirt with a fuchsia color on the inside, and pair of red headphones with gold patterns and blue ribbons hanging off. Lastly there was Tecna and she wore a gown not a dress her gown consisted of a pale purple dress with light green details and outline and a cloak of the same color. There was a strange circle on the top of her dress. Tecna was also wearing a crown and a headdress at the back. She had mysterious decorations on her back that looked like wings. She also wore light purple and blue boots. Each of the Winx was a beauty in their own way; he then scanned the crowd for Riven and she approached in a dress that resembled Blooms only purple and teal and she wore a purple fur boa around her neck and a short cape of the same color, her hair was down as well as somewhat less spikier then before with a spiked bun on the top of her hair, she wore a teal ribbon to tie it back and had a wolf shaped pin on the left side of her hair; she also wore a good deal more make-up, she was a completely different person then the woman he fought in the swamp yesterday.

"You look absolutely radiant" Erasiel complemented holding out his right-hand which she promptly took, he brought her hand up and kissed it.

"Thanks; Everyone from school thought I was telling them B.S. about me having a date; not that I care about what they think; by the way you look absolutely handsome, me I look like a gidget girl" Riven replied as a number of boys responded with dropped jaws.

"Kerborg" Erasiel called and the faceless took his staff and assumed the form of an ice sculpture holding said staff like one would a flag. "You still look beautiful; shall we dance?" Erasiel asked, she responded by grabbing his arm and placing it on her waist, she then placed her arm around his shoulder, and they began to dance to the music which was mixture of pop, techno and rock, as they danced Erasiel kept an eye out for Lucius Leary whom he soon saw, Lucius Leary was a skinny man who was decently fit with black hair in a spiky mohawk and numerous piercings in his ears, lip, chin and nose, he was repulsive with freckles and pale skin and teeth that were a dark yellow from poor hygiene overall the kind of person you wouldn't expect to see going to a prestigious collage for Warriors, wizards, sorcerers, sorceresses and battle mages. Erasiel soon saw the idiot make passes at a fairy: she was an elegant-looking girl with long, grayish blue hair that was somewhat curly. Her lips appeared reddish, while her eyeshadow seems purple. Her eyes looked to be blue-gray, she wore a blue gown with an icy pattern that made it shimmer, something that Icy would probably wear if she was invited to an event like this. The fairy rebuffed Leary's advances and moved elsewhere to dance alone. "What a yutz" Erasiel thought Riven noticed his distraction and looked at what he was looking at.

"Lucius Leary, there is an idiot if I ever knew, one, he actually was stupid enough last month to paint to his name all over Kordatura's office; man, that was enjoyable to see him get the crap beaten out of him by her, on top that he got detention for two weeks, Headmistress Faragonda must be awful nice to let him come here, he is an accident waiting to happen not that he isn't the only one" Riven stated Erasiel regarded her with a look of amusement, then whispered into her ear; which caused her to giggle. "So, you want to see him humiliate himself and have a plan to do it, go try it I'll make sure no one notices" Riven whispered back, Erasiel then walked over to a bench and found Leary's bag, and used a silent teleportation spell to put the eggs in his bag then he walked back to Riven and continued dancing, "So that's your plan?" She asked.

"Only part of it, I'll let you in on a secret, some friends of mine from Cloud Tower actually are going to crash the party with one of their pranks, and we planned to have Leary take the blame for it" Erasiel responded in a whisper.

"Oh, that's fun, hopefully it works" she responded with grin and a look of interest in her eyes she then kissed him on the lips softly.

"It will, the friends of mine are rather subtle about their work and they aren't the best at Cloud Tower for nothing" Erasiel replied after breaking the kiss then the music began to intensify and Tecna walked by, he then twirled Riven with one hand and grabbed Tecna's and twirled her with other , then gracefully caught Riven and began to dance with more intensity, Tecna was dizzy and but also had received a dose of Erasiel's blood from his ring this again caused her to trust him she soon stepped in and asked "May I have a turn?" to which both Riven and Erasiel agreed and he danced with both of them, soon other faeries, the other Winx included, would join their group as Erasiel danced with one girl to another as Everybody wants to rule the world by Tears for Fears played in the background.

Meanwhile the Trix had already entered the school and used the vacuums to locate Stella's room, they found a gold oyster shell shaped box that Kerborg said Stella kept the ring in and opened it: the box was empty apart from the orange fabric casing, they shrugged and left the room and reprioritized the Vacuums to search for the eggs, which the found not too far from the Teacher lounge which fortunately was empty, no students were about nor teachers or animals for that matter no witnesses at all and they found the chest where the eggs were being stored much like a pirate would his treasure; then they cast a spell to enchant the eggs, turning them into the crows eggs they had intended to turn them into, they then ducked out and escaped via the way they came in as if they hadn't been there in the first place.

Meanwhile Erasiel had become the life of the party with multiple girls dancing around him while he twirled Musa around him with her happily laughing in enjoyment before he wrapped his arms around her hips and she kissed him on the lips; much to the chagrin of the Specialists, the male ones anyway as the female ones were dancing with him, also Saladin who was annoyed by Erasiel's womanizing most of the time, and especially Griselda who had the face of a teapot about to explode; Faragonda was giggling hysterically at the sight. "Something must be done to put a stop to this headmistress!" Griselda irately commented loudly to Faragonda, who laughed at the suggestion.

"You mean to say that I should reign in your father for doing what he does best, really Griselda you have got to stop being a wet blanket let Erasiel do as he pleases, he's not under my control or anyone else's for that matter" Faragonda responded, then proceeded to laugh a merry laugh that only Faeries and Elves can while Erasiel alternated partners to the lovely Katy. Katy is a fair-skinned girl with chest-length, light brown wavy hair. Her eyes are dark brown. Katy wore a pink tank top with two very thin shoulder straps, along with a knee-length matching pink skirt that was worn underneath her top. She had on dark magenta gloves that stopped just before her elbows. Her hair was pulled back and straightened with a small flip along the edges, along with having two very thin loops of hair on top of her head, resembling mouse ears. Her shoes were high heel sandals the same color as her dress. She laughed as Erasiel preformed his dance moves

"Perhaps it is time for the gifts" Saladin chimed in diplomatically after Faragonda had stopped laughing, to which Faragonda agreed and then went to the nearby microphone.

"Attention students, the time has come for the gifts" Faragonda announced, then sent some of the professors to bring out the box from which Griselda began handing out gifts.

When Griselda came to Riven and Erasiel, Riven stated "No thanks, my date isn't from Alfea or Red Fountain, I have no interest in spark tricks" and Griselda walked by grunting. "I heard that" Erasiel stated, leaving Griselda from that point to smile creepily at everyone else she gave eggs to. A few minutes after the Eggs had been handed out they hatched and out of them came fully grown crows, which began to go in every direction which sent a number of Faeries and Specialists running around, Erasiel laughed at the spectacle and when a crow came his direction he roasted it with a fireball and swallowed it whole, then continued laughing, nobody commented about his laughing as a number of people were laughing however they had a sense of humor unlike the teachers who were busy shooing off the crows which flew off in any number of directions well all the teachers save Professor Defour who was terrified of the birds and was cowering in a corner.

Soon when the ruckus died down Griselda, who was covered in bird feces and feathers, came and yelled "Who is responsible for this, who stole the Lightspark Eggs and replaced them with these crow eggs?!" Griselda then glared at Erasiel and yelled "You have something to do with it don't you?!" to which Erasiel glared at her before responding.

"Griselda, what reason would I have to ruin a perfectly good dance, remember I stand to gain the most by the longer it goes on" Erasiel responded. "Also, I'm pretty sure the person who did this must be still here, I was here the whole time and I wasn't first person here" he continued, deflecting all suspicion off of him from everyone but Griselda; but that was normal Griselda always stuck her nose into other people's business and was too paranoid for her own good.

"Hey, I saw Lucius Leary skulking around earlier he had his bag with him" the Blue haired Fairy from earlier chimed in, Erasiel could tell she was lying but no one else did respond; it was obvious she was getting back at Leary for making unwanted advances towards her earlier; everyone looked at Leary who was standing there looking like an idiot who was stoned out of his mind as he was drooling, though he wasn't clearly on drugs. Griselda walked over and grabbed his bag which provoked a rise out of him and this prompted a tug of war which Griselda won after some effort on her part, her suspicions were off of Erasiel at this point, and she opened the bag to find it full of Lightspark Eggs.

"I didn't do it" Leary protested, and received someone's shoe in his nose, Erasiel noted it came from the blue haired girl who clearly had it in for him and made note of her for a future ally, suddenly a bunch of Specialists rushed to defend Leary claiming he had been framed, Saladin didn't bother interjecting himself into the resulting fight, which was started by a pig-faced buck-toothed specialist wearing a Bennie hat pinching Musa's butt causing Erasiel to yell "Hey Musa that guy grabbed your tail!" causing Musa to turn to said specialist next to her and back-hand him, hard, this resulted in a massive brawl, which Erasiel, Riven and the others stayed back from and for sheer laughs Kerborg had pushed Griselda in too; resulting in a massive brawl from which Erasiel made a few notes, A. Bloom had a mean Right hook, B. Flora always goes for a man's junk in a fight, C. the Blue Haired girl clearly hated the Specialist who had rushed to Leary's defense as she bit his hand hard, D. Don't mess with Musa as she delivers a mean slap, and E. Stella is more than willing to use her ring in scepter form as a quarterstaff. The fight began to get more out of hand when a couple faeries transformed into Charmix and began lobbing magic at a couple specialists, this prompted Faragonda to launch a green firework-like blast out of her hands into the air which stopped the whole thing.

"ENOUGH! This kind of rough housing is unwelcomed in my school especially when magic is involved!" Faragonda yelled into the microphone, the two Charmix faeries who had transformed quickly changed back before Faragonda could tell who they were; the gathering dispersed and a couple faeries had black eyes and bruises but the Specialists had taken the worst of the fight, most if not all were badly beaten with multiple having black eyes and lost teeth, Leary being the worst off having two black eyes and having had most of his hair torn out by someone probably the angry half-staved crazed weasel that Erasiel had lobbed in for good measure, Griselda was a mess and extremely angry with a face that would terrify an angry minotaur; Kerborg threw a pie at her and then laughed at her he was followed by practically everybody.

"ERGH! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! I'm going elsewhere I have been thoroughly humiliated! I will be in my office, Headmistress you are in charge of discipline for the time being!" Griselda stormed then ran off, her tail feathers all in a mess as well as her hair and her outfit was torn in some places her humiliation was further added when her skirt split and fell off revealing her underwear to more laughter.

"As Griselda said, I'm in charge of discipline! The faeries who participated in that fight will have to clean the school this weekend without magic and are to remain in their dorm rooms when not at classes; anyone else who causes trouble will receive the same punishment and three hours of detention with mandatory work, also Professor Gelt is in charge of Detention this month so don't think you are getting off light!" Faragonda bellowed, her sweet voice now angry at the students.

This was a problem, Erasiel had unintentionally gotten the Winx punished for starting the fight he had started; Faragonda's punishment was fair but not to the people who started the fight, Erasiel then resolved to help them with their punishment, also he resolved to spray paint Red Fountain with unflattering and insulting images, also he resolved to write his initials on it. Erasiel then turned to the Winx and the other five faeries and said "My apologies I'll try and make up for this" which caused them to regard him with surprise that he cared about something that clearly wasn't his fault (That they knew of.)

"Headmaster Saladin I only assume a proper punishment will be given Leary for his Prank and the other Specialists for fighting" Erasiel stated, glaring at his friend with a look of; if you don't you're next as in what happened to Griselda will happen to you.

"Indeed, a suitable punishment, A weeks detention for those who participated in that fight and a month for Mr. Leary for his unbelievable prank" Saladin responded, which caused Erasiel to glare at him even more also caused his glasses to briefly go opaque enough that Saladin couldn't see Erasiel's eyes.

"That's too light my friend, at Graynor students who started a brawl like this around me received three months" Erasiel responded with a very stern expression.

"Yes, and I understand but there is the matter that many these students are nobles' sons and those that aren't are squires or retainers of some sort" Saladin responded.

"So, you're letting them off light because their fathers are some fat pigs sitting on cushioned seats and you don't want to offend them?" Erasiel responded.

"Well- "Saladin began but he was cut off by Faragonda who said "I have been light with my punishment to Erasiel don't think- "Erasiel interrupted her "They started the fight, that arrogant blackguard pinched Musa's tail I saw him do it" Erasiel responded pointing to the black-haired pig-faced specialist that had been standing by Musa earlier.

"Did not!" the pig-faced Specialist replied in a voice that resembled that of a donkey.

"That is beside the point, the punishment still stands" Saladin responded, Erasiel ignored Saladin, strolled pass him, then delivered an uppercut to Pig-faced Specialists nose, and a falcon punch to his gut.

"Erasiel!" Saladin yelled to which Erasiel responded. "He had that coming!"

"I'll tell my father about this!" the pig-faced boy moaned getting up.

"Yeah you will, and I'll rip him apart and devour that fat prick bones and all, I haven't eaten a fat noble in a while; just letting know I'm a Phoenix I do eat humans that cross me especially the fat arrogant variety they taste delicious so shove of and die you coxfither" Erasiel retorted, he then lobbed a rock at the noble's son who had just gotten back up to receive the rock right in the crotch. "Come on Riven, Kerborg we are leaving, I'll buy you both dinner to make up for this bullshit with that noble creep" Erasiel continued with both Riven and Kerborg following him, Kerborg handed Erasiel his Staff.

"Headmaster Saladin you must do something about that man, if you won't I'll have my father deal with him" the Noble Pig-face stated.

"There is nothing I can do with regards to him, he is out of my control and anybody's control actually he is the Head of the Wizard's Council; nothing for it, Also I would take that warning to heart, also you will have to walk back to Red Fountain as added punishment for your starting the fight" Saladin stated. Erasiel ordered telepathically to have Lethos and his Assassins make the pig-boy squeal but to use Beastman Weapons for the job.

Shortly… "So, do you actually eat people?" Riven asked.

"Yes, but only those who are my enemies, as well as criminal scum no one will miss, and on the offhand chance to impress some cult that I don't want to be eating ordinary populace and direct their interest into eating more choice cuts, like the aforementioned criminal scum" Erasiel replied.

"You have a lot of interesting things in your past don't you" Riven replied.

"Well I'm not a cannibal, I don't eat my own kind, so eating humans is fair game for one of my race, and I'm not the only one who does it, I'm in the majority though that only eats criminals and enemies though, there are some crazies who pray indiscriminately on Humans, but most of them we lock up in the Oblivion Dimension and they are few and far between" Erasiel replied, and Riven laughed as they strolled off to dinner and a movie.

Later that Night… Erasiel followed thru on his plan to vandalize Red Fountain however his plans turned rather gruesome thanks to the two Dark Elf Assassins which were lugging around the body of the pig-faced noble boy from earlier who had as a side punishment been made to walk back on foot to Red Fountain; they then hung him from the statue in the center courtyard of Red Fountain castle, his body wearing only the torn half his jumpsuit as his hat was stuffed in his mouth covered in his blood mainly from the fact he had been force fed his loins and his tongue before death; the body ripped by crude blades with blood still oozing from the wounds and was otherwise a mangled mess with dark brands scribed into it; Erasiel meant to send a message to the Red Fountain Specialists, don't mess with the Faeries at Alfea or him, nobody would miss the fat boy and he made sure the Assassins painted the bloodmark of the dark gods on the boy's chest in place of his lungs which now hung him from the statue; he also had them paint the seals and imagery of the dark gods over the front of the school, having the Beastman blamed for this was all too simple, with more effect he stole some totems from a local Beastmen herd stone and made it look all the more like they were behind the killing; Saladin would have his suspicions but he wouldn't blame Erasiel for the killing; Erasiel viewed it as a necessary punishment, and would probably be better for the family's subjects as they would probably have better leader in the future.

He returned to Cloud Tower to find the Trix fast asleep in their pajamas, Erasiel placed an egg on Icy's nightstand this was of the more pleasant kind, it would hatch in the morning.


	6. Arc 1 Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Black Mud Swamp

The following morning came and Erasiel was still asleep his dreams were of the sort that shifted and could generally be anything due his many adventures and the many things he had seen over his exceedingly long life which would never end unless the universe did; his sleep of course was soon interrupted by Stormy: who was overly excited. "Hey, wake up, there has been some crazy stuff that happened overnight!" Stormy yelled eagerly, Erasiel woke up, yawned, then used his magic to change into his day clothes and then picked up his staff from his bed side before responding to Stormy.

"What news?" Erasiel asked absent-mindedly as he was still waking up, his memories of last night were hazy.

"There was a massive fight between the Faeries and the Specialists after our prank went off, that so the icing on the cake, but more importantly one of the specialists was found dead this morning hanging from the statue in the Red Fountain courtyard also Icy woke up and there was duckling on her bed, man she freaked out, but she lightened up after it called her mother" Stormy responded rather quickly, this reminded Erasiel and fully woke him up.

"Oh that, the duckling was a gift, and the body well that was a loose end" Erasiel responded.

"Wait so you killed that guy?" Stormy asked curiously her eyes wide with shock rather outrage, she was generally excited by that news, something that worried Erasiel, he didn't want Stormy to be too bloodthirsty.

"No not personally, I did have a couple of Dark Elf Assassins do the job though, don't worry I covered my tracks well and they will blame to local Beastmen for the affair" Erasiel responded. "Anyway, I would like you to keep the matter quiet, don't tell anyone apart from your sisters about this and I won't tell anybody about our adventure last night, speaking of which did Griffin reward you and your sister's already and what did Icy name the duck" Erasiel inquired.

"Oh yes, they already have done that; Headmistress Griffin gave us extra credit for the whole prank which was good, I had a C- in History of magic; now I have an A for the course" Stormy responded. "Also, she wanted to see you, and Icy named the duck Pepe" she continued, this of course prompted Erasiel to leave and then go to Griffin's office where Griffin was quite annoyed.

"What were you thinking?! The prank was supposed to be a practical joke, why is there a dead specialist who was hanging from the statue in the Red Fountain courtyard this morning?!" Griffin interrogated to which Erasiel merely frowned.

"Oh yes that corpse. The Trix had nothing to do with dead Specialist: that noble prick's death was solely my doing; not directly though: I had Lethos send a couple of Assassins his way; don't worry he will hardly be missed he was slime ball and he started that fight last night by pinching Musa's butt; he also insulted me and Saladin let him and other troublemakers off light; don't worry I made sure the Beastmen were blamed; mainly because they won't talk to anyone just attack them outright and because it was the most effective scapegoat literally in fact a literal goat" Erasiel responded.

"Well I just had a call from Saladin; the last thing Cloud Tower needs is to blamed for a murder" Griffin responded.

"Look don't worry like I said the Beastmen are the perfect scapegoats because they don't answer questions they just kill; also, by the way did Saladin change the punishment for the troublemakers?" Erasiel responded. Griffin relented and resumed a calm demeanor

"Oh that; Saladin did give them a month's detention for the whole fight; I guess the death of one of the students was enough to send a message to him; he probably knows that the death of the noble's son was you're doing; but I think you got the point across that the punishment should be more severe; I don't think he cares about the noble's son's death and if he did he wouldn't be able to prove it: the Assassins are loyal to you only and won't betray a client's trust or give their name" Griffin responded. "Anyway, I just need you to focus on the Trix today, I have made absence exception for their classes today, so you can teach them more; I think you could afford to teach them some of the more advanced spells" Griffin continued, Erasiel nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry I have just the thing in mind for them today, it will kill two birds with one stone" Erasiel responded.

"Good also in the future don't pull stunts like that so soon after the event" Griffin responded. "Also, I love you my dear husband and have a good day" she concluded and kissed him lovingly.

Erasiel soon left: now had come the time for more advanced approach but he needed a few things mainly alchemical ingredients; the Trix could help with that and he would teach them some more advanced spells as a reward; all the ingredients he needed could be found in the Black Mud Swamp; though he would have to deal with Goblins that dwelt there. "All the more practice for the Trix" Erasiel thought.

Unaware to Erasiel: the Winx and number of other Faeries would be heading to the Black Mud Swamp for the same reason, to collect alchemical ingredients though for different potions; Erasiel needed the ingredients for a rather practical set of augment potions that would allow the caster to focus better and tap into more magic; Erasiel wanted these specifically for the Trix's training which if he was going to teach them more advanced spells they would need these potions to strengthen themselves to be able to cast some of the more advanced spells which required more energy to cast.

Erasiel spent the next few hours however making sure the Trix were caught up and fully able to use what they had learned so far; this was both for practice and to see how much their magical potential had advanced. After practice he informed the Trix that they would be heading to the Black Mud Swamp to collect Alchemy ingredients for special potions that would enhance their magical potential, something had he not mentioned it was solely for their benefit they would've surely complained about doing.

Unaware to Erasiel, the Trix, and the Winx alike in the swamp the local goblin tribes were minding their own business until a certain Goblin Hexer approached a number of tribes, the Hexer was clad in the blue and black robes of a Night Goblin Spider Priest wore a large mushroom on his head as a cap, he carried along an uneven and black staff with was studded with spikes and topped by three pointed spear tip a "Prodda" as the Greenskins called it, he rode a large swamp beetle and was escorted by a number of well-armed goblins. The Hexer whose name was Nurgzak Shroomchewa was a well-respected wanderer of the Goblin communities on Magix however he was well known as a speaker to the Spider God, he approached the local Swamp Goblin Warboss who sat on his throne beside which two large Squigs were chained up and slept. "All right then what do you want Hexer?" the Warboss, Sawtooth Squiglova asked.

"Da time has come, spider god sayz to smash Faeries who live in shiny school, also to smash hummies in the big city, the Spider god says it's time for the WAAGH!" Nurgzak responded, which got the attention of all the goblins nearby.

"Alright lads here's the plan we'z gonna smash em and bash and beat em WAAGH! And if we lose we pretend we waz neva there" Raktooth yelled to his goblin warriors, they then creeped off into the swamp with their weapons in hand.

Meanwhile… the Winx had just arrived in the swamp, they along with the other students were clad in explorer garb, the kind which you would wear on an African Safari or jungle expedition with Pith Helmets and all that entailed, the signature garb of late 19th century explorers who wandered into the jungles of the Heart of Darkness as the interior of Africa was known at the time, the only person not in this garb was Professor Gelt who wore his ordinary attire, he carried the golden staff of Volans in his right hand and had a sword on his side, Bloom was also next to him because she was overflowing with questions. "Professor I have to ask are you the real Balthazar Gelt, the Supreme Patriarch of the Altdorf Colleges of Magic" Bloom asked eagerly beginning her first salvo of questions.

"Former Supreme Patriarch, I gave up my position when I was offered the more prestigious rule on the Wizard's Council by Erasiel Darkar though I kept the Staff of Volans as I was not defeated by my successor he will have to make do with his own staff, I've lived a lifetime far beyond that of the people on my world, but time hasn't changed much since I left, due to some rules on how time passes here versus in my world; anyway I became the Alchemy teacher at Alfea after the War of the Ancestresses I thought it would be suitable to teach new generations of students the finer points of Alchemy and magic" Professor Gelt responded, in his metallic voice which sounded like a man talking thru a network of brass pipes.

"Wow, it so awesome to actually meet someone from a game you've played, I have a model of you in my dorm room back at Alfea from the Tabletop battles" Bloom responded.

"I see, those; I knew you were a fan of that game when you asked me that question, that whole franchise is all Darkar's doing I was not surprised that he would turn my life's stories and those of my homeworld into a gaming franchise, now do you have any other questions Bloom" Gelt asked.

"Yes, I do; what are we looking for in this swamp?" Bloom asked.

"A number of practical ingredients; Mud weed mostly as well a number of other plants that grow here; Mud Weed has applications in most healing potions as well as few enchantment potions and other less then savory potions: Also, we are looking for Sulphur, it is a necessary ingredient in number of potions that can be used to clear obstacles mainly boulders" Gelt responded.

"So, we get to work with explosives!?" Bloom asked excitedly.

"Yes and no, I will be showing you how to make them but no we will not be using them; on School grounds at least, I believe in teaching students information that will be practical in unexpected situations, on my world knowing more will allow you survive the many hazards it presents" Gelt responded.

"Anything to be worried about in this swamp?" Bloom asked weary, she was genuinely worried about the threats here as she hadn't really any combat experience outside her initial encounter with Stella and the follow up Troll attack.

"Not much that cannot be handled if we stick together, however there are some dangerous creatures in this swamp but those are in the deeper parts of the swamp which we will not be visiting, the most resident threat is the Goblins who live in this swamp, however they are content to stay in their territory and as long as we avoid their territory we will be safe from attack, even if they do attack however a class of Faeries and former Supreme Patriarch of the Colleges of Magic will be able to fend them off rather easily the dangers of the Black Mud Swamp are nothing compared to forests of my home world" Balthazar Gelt responded to Bloom's query, Bloom felt reassured that they wouldn't be in any real danger as long as Professor Gelt was with them.

Meanwhile… Erasiel and the Trix had recently arrived and had begun scouring the local area for anything on Erasiel's list; Erasiel himself kept his eyes and ears open for any danger that might threaten them. Hours Erasiel and the Trix were looking for Light-bell and Shadow-clover when they heard the frantic footsteps coming in their direction and they had readied their spells. To their surprise five Faeries came running in their direction; Erasiel and the Trix barely got a chance to look at them when they yelled: "RUN! GOBLINS!" and soon they were followed by a number of goblins yelling their battle cry "WAAAGH!" at the top of their lungs, they brandished a variety of weapons, some crude but others good quality and some masterworks of their smiths, regardless the Goblins were rather angry, Erasiel dropped a wall of Fire in their path and followed the five Faeries and the Trix followed him; the yells of angry goblins behind.

"I can't believe we are running from Goblins" Stormy angrily stated.

"Too many of them and not enough time for me to come up with a plan, this isn't running it is a tactical retreat" Erasiel responded, ducking a goblin arrow which he responded to by sending a fiery wave at the attackers, who screamed out in agony at their pain, soon they had lost their pursuers and Erasiel could ask the Faeries questions, he recognized all five of them as the faeries that along with Winx had gotten detention; the Blue hair girl was one, but there were four others one with long red-brown hair, one with long blue hair and glasses, one with short Magenta hair and glasses, and the other with bob-cut orange-blonde hair, they were all beautiful and their figures were the same as those of the Trix, all five of them wore the garb of explorers. "For starters who are you girls and how did you manage to piss off those goblins" Erasiel asked, the Blue haired girl responded.

"My name is Jennifer and these four are Amaryl, Ortensia, Emily, and Francine" the now named Jennifer stated pointing to Amaryl; the orange haired girl with green eyes, Ortensia the girl with square-framed glasses and very long dark blue-black hair that is about waist-length who resembled Musa and Erasiel assumed she was from Melody, Emily the Pinkette with glasses and brown eyes, a last Francine the fair faced girl with long brown-red hair that had neatly brushed bangs near her temples and sea-blue eyes, all five of them were dressed in the same explorer garb. "As to the Goblins, we got separated from the rest of Professor Gelt's class while we were looking for Insty flowers and they attacked us, I've never seen so many Goblins in my life and Professor Gelt said we would be safe in this part of the swamp" Jennifer continued.

"Usually they do stick to their territory, usually if they leave their territory it's in smaller numbers not large warbands, no that means a Hexer has been agitating the tribes into a WAAGH! That is not a good thing and means the swamp became a lot more dangerous" Erasiel explained.

"So now what do we do?" Emily asked a look of panic on her face.

"The only thing to stop them from getting out of hand would be to kill their War Boss and their Hexer, that will cause them to scatter and go into infighting" Erasiel responded.

"How do we go about doing that?" Ortensia asked cynically.

"We need numbers, if we were to link up with rest of the class; with my help and that of the Trix and Professor Gelt we should be able to beat them enough to kill their War Boss and Hexer" Erasiel responded, "Now into your Charmix Forms or your Witch Forms and get ready to fight" Erasiel ordered. Each of them transforming in their forms which appeared as so: Amaryl wore a sparkling olive-green dress with a light green part on the top that connects to a red gem and continues to a point and is tied with green neck trim and the same light green colored mini-shorts on under them with green trim. Her boots were ankle-height and light green. Her wings had leaflets on them and are lavender with hot pink tips. Francine wore a light blue sparkly top with the sides showing and opens on the hips with points in the back and under for a short view she wore a blue two-pointed piece with a royal blue pointed skirt under and having a light blue gem on the top of the dress that has dark blue feather-type decorations that spread out not blocking her face. Her shoes were blue heels with the back of her foot showing and an ankle strap with a light blue gem. She also wears blue gloves and has blue wings. She also wore pale blue headband under her bangs and hair. Emily's Charmix resembled Francine's but instead of blue the colors were fuchsia, Byzantine purple and hot pink she also wore bells in her hair. Ortensia wore a sparkly pink muffin-top hat, her glasses, and also a sparkling pink tank-top and skirt, along with slightly darker shorts and below the knee fuchsia boots. Lastly came Jennifer wore an ice blue collared jumpsuit with shorts and a piece of blue on the back and side of her chest also, connected is a purple cape. She wore the same boots as her civilian outfit only lacking socks. Her wings were magenta/pink. With them in in Charmix they proceeded to be on their way into the bog. The Trix also had transformed from their civilian garb into their witch combat forms; Icy's witch form was a dull navy-blue one-piece suit and a royal blue cape, with high-heeled boots a darker shade of blue. Down the front of the suit was a white stripe that formed a thin belt with the letter "I" over the stomach. With this, she wore fingerless gloves and dark blue eye shadow. Darcy's witch outfit was purple, but it is more like a bodysuit with no sleeves, and Capri-style pants. Accessories included light purple gloves, ankle boots that are the same color as her witch outfit, and a choker that forms a "D" at her belt. Continuing the purple accessories, Darcy wore purple eye shadow makeup in the same style as the rest of her sisters, her glasses were noticeably absence. Her hair was the same. Stormy wore a maroon dress with the letter "S" embossed at the middle of her outfit. She had matching maroon fingerless gloves that went to her elbows. She also had matching tights, Her high-heeled boots were the same height as Darcy's. Like her older sisters, she wore eye makeup of the color of her outfit and a choker around her neck. Her hair is the same. Her skirt was the same color as her normal form and she still had on lavender panties which Erasiel could see from his position.

They then wandered around for a while as they avoided the hazards of the bog, when Goblins came looking for them they killed them so they wouldn't report their positions, they flew low to avoid being spotted by Goblin archers which while they wouldn't be able to hurt Erasiel or the Trix because of their wards; The faeries wards were under-developed and they would easily threatened by well-placed goblin arrows, something which fortunately was a rarity but still not rare enough to be worth taking chances, Erasiel intended to keep all the students alive; his own survival was secondary due to his reincarnation; which was a luxury the others didn't have.

The swamp itself though was as unruly of an adversary as the Goblins were, in that it was trying its best to make them lose their sense of direction and get them hopelessly lost, unfortunately for the swamp Erasiel was all too aware of where he was going, while he himself couldn't risk flying high and being seen Kerborg could but didn't need to as he spoke telepathically to Erasiel guiding them to him and Winx. They ran into each other within a half-hour but not literally and Bloom approached Erasiel. "We were looking for you girls, Professor Gelt noticed you were missing and I volunteered us to look for you, Mr. Darkar what are you doing here and with the Trix" Bloom asked noticing additional people.

"The same reason you're here; looking for alchemical ingredients, also please call me Nathan, Mr. Darkar is my father; well technically he is Lord Darkar but that is beside the point call me Nathan from now on, secondly we need to move fast, the Goblins are following us and we need to move now if we are going to stand any chance of beating them" Erasiel responded, however as if on cue Goblins came roaring from the brush charging them, Erasiel cast a barrier of fire in their path which bought the Winx time to transform into Charmix, apart from Bloom.

"I've never transformed before" Bloom responded to Erasiel.

"It's simple Bloom, just yell Charmix and focus on it, you'll transform it's that simple" Erasiel stated, after he said that a goblin arrow bounced of his armor and he responded to that with a barrage of fireballs in the general direction which was followed by more Goblins screaming in agony, Bloom still hesitated and but then cleared her head and yelled "MAGIC WINX! CHARMIX!"

("It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, its easy if you try, it's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky it's easy if you try. If you wanna go far, never give up on your dreams, because you know you're wonderful, just the way you are, deep inside your heart, there's a power of a Winx, just close your eyes and let it shine. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, its easy if you try. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. Every day at the edge you know what you got to do, just give your best and you will see, you'll never be unknown, We are all for one, shining brighter than the Sun, just close your eyes and we will shine. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. This is what you are and now you're a powerful fairy, irresistible, you can be the star, come fly with the Winx. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. It's the power of Charmix your magical light, the power of Charmix will lead you thru the night, spread your wings and fly, light it up the sky, it's easy if you try. It's the power of CHARMIX!")

Bloom's body coursed with energy, her clothing faded and soon flames bathed her body in certain parts, and in the corner of her eye she saw the fiery image of a serpentine dragon curl around her, the flames turned into blue clothes, a blue cropped top and skirt, as we as blue boots, an oval yellow gem resided on her neck, her wings were small and blue squares, she felt her hair which now had a small golden tiara in it, she noted her hands had sleeveless gloves wrapped around her hands, then the world turned to normal and she noticed the other Winx in their Charmix Forms, she recognized Stella's from when she first met her in Gardenia but took in Flora's form as well those of Musa and Tecna: Flora's Charmix outfit was primarily fuchsia and orchid in color, and consisted of a sparkling one piece, bare shouldered top that concealed a pair of mini shorts of the same color, and ankle-high boots also the same color. A green choker with a pink colored four petal flower adorns her neck, and she had wrist length fingerless gloves covering her arms. Her wings are lime green and shaped like leaves. Tecna's Charmix outfit was unarguably the most distinctive of all the fairies she could currently see, as it covered most of her body. The outfit was a full-body suit of a sparkling lavender color covering the torso and legs. She has powder blue sleeves which cover her hands and blue knee-high boots. She wore a lavender helmet which had a lime green tear-shaped brooch on it, similar to the one on her chest. Her wings are green bars which can form small squares on her back, in the shape of a glider, oddly they didn't flutter which meant they were more like a glider then the wings of a Bird. Last there was Musa's Charmix outfit was a sparkling red top with translucent pink fabric at the middle, a red mini skirt, and knee-high wedge red boots. She also wore purple headphones atop her head and purple ribbons around her forearms (the one on her left arm has loose ends hanging from it). Her wings are translucent and bright blue with purple bands in the middle. She had magenta shorts on under her skirt. Bloom had been so distracted that when a Goblin came charging her direction she didn't know how to respond, fortunately a lightning bolt struck the Goblin leaving it a fried green body that smelled somewhere between hamburgers and pork mixed in with a bit of mushrooms to Bloom.

"Hey Bloom, keep your eyes straight and keep focused on the fight" Stormy shouted to Bloom who immediately leapt up startled then realized she wasn't falling back down because she was just hovering in the air, an arrow flew in Bloom's direction and Stormy yelled "Dodge!" and Bloom dodge to the side with the limberness of an acrobat. "Stick close to me if you want to stay alive freshman" Stormy shouted, and Bloom came to her side. "Well don't just stay floating around send some spells in the Goblin's direction, you're a Fire Fairy use your fire powers" Stormy ordered.

"Fireball!" Bloom shouted and a fireball leapt from her hand into the nearest goblin and turned him into a pile of ash, Bloom was taken aback by her new powers but didn't have time to question it and began to send more fireballs in the direction of the goblins, her aim was off initially not hitting the goblins she aimed at but there were enough of them not to matter, Bloom's aim improved and soon the spells were hitting where she intended them to, she also noted the spells from the others; Flora left goblins tangled in vines or pierced by barbs and thorns, Musa sent out blasts of sound in the direction causing the goblins to cover their ears in pain, Stella sent blasts of light the in direction of the goblins and each of them turned into skeletons on a hit, Tecna sent blasts of focused energy as well as nets of energy which trapped and destroyed goblins on contact, Ice came from Icy and Jennifer, tangled dark energy came out from Darcy as well as duplicates of said witch, Stormy was consistently hurling lightning but also wind and rock, Amaryl was sending spheres of starlight into the goblin ranks and which landed to deadly effect, while Francine caused tides of water to pull goblins away and drown them in the bogs, Emily sent out blasts of red energy that caused the goblins to freeze up paralyzed as well as blasts of what looked like blood to Bloom to consume the goblins, and Erasiel well he was unleashed a variety of spells few of which belonged to the same lore of magic they were joined Professor Gelt and the Other students who heard the fighting.

"Gehanna's golden hounds!" Gelt casted and series of molten hounds routed and chased a number of the Goblins off, while ripping others to shreds. "Golden blades of Shakur!" Gelt casted, a series of spinning golden blades shredded Goblins like knifes thru butter.

The fight continued on, but the noise had attracted more attention, that of more goblins and rather large goblin in armor riding a large Squig clad in armor he had a large axe in his hands and roared his WAAGH louder than any of the other Goblins, chants went up of "Raktooth!" from the goblins and he came charging in Bloom's direction. Raktooth then noted an aura of fire from the fairy and he stared at her like someone looks at an oncoming train they have no power to stop; suddenly vines tangled his squig and sent him flying of, Raktooth roared "Faeriez I will smash you gits!" he aimed for Bloom but suddenly he felt pain burning agonizing flame Bloom had sent a fireball at him, and he cooked inside his armor and fell to the ground striking his head on hard rock as the fire melted him inside the confines of his armor, he looked and saw his squig Gnawy struggle at the vines that bound him and the last thing he heard was a cry of loss from his old pet. The Goblins fled, from a nearby tree hung the remains of their Hexer who had been singled out by Erasiel dragged into the air and had his neck snapped by the Phoenix in question, their Warboss had been killed, and his pet Squig which had gone mad with grief broke from the vines that trapped it and was now chasing them down.

"That was insane" Bloom responded after they had gotten the chance to recover from the attack.

"Trust me you have only just been in your first fight Bloom, there is much ahead for you" Erasiel responded.

"Well thanks for your help, I don't think we would have been able to handle the goblins without you" Bloom thanked then turned to Stormy "Thanks for saving my life"

"No problem, just making sure you didn't die, you may be a fairy, but nobody deserves to die because they're not paying attention to what is going on around them" Stormy responded. The Group left and soon met up with the rest of the Class, where Professor Gelt was quick to thank Erasiel and the Trix for finding his missing students, Erasiel and Trix left after that and returned to Cloud Tower.

Later at Cloud Tower… Erasiel brooded over a cauldron which he now had filled with ingredients gathered in the swamp, he oversaw the mixture while the Trix let off steam doing whatever they felt like doing, soon the mixture was done and Erasiel bottled it.

"And it's done, a standard power potion, drink it tomorrow morning and you will be full of strength and energy" Erasiel stated handing the Trix each a potion. "You three have done the important part and now I can see to teaching you some more advanced spells, mind you tomorrow morning, and this time we will test them on goblins" Erasiel continued and the Trix laughed at the last part.


	7. Arc 1 Chapter 5

Chapter 5: a Date with a Darkar

The following day was the last day before the Weekend, if there was any chance to steal Stella's Ring without her noticing it was now before the Winx had to do their detention, which left Erasiel with only one option; a bit of matchmaking. "So here is my new plan, plan D as in D for Darkar, we separate Stella from the other Winx so that we can snatch the ring from her" Erasiel explained he and the Trix were sitting at a round table in their room while Pepe Icy's new pet duck playfully waddled in her lap. "First off Stella is in a relationship with Brandon alias Prince Sky, but what she doesn't know that he is just Sky's squire but rather she thinks he is the prince himself, so we arrange a Date for them; Darcy and I will go undercover to the restaurant: I will be disguised as Brandon, Darcy will simply be there for lookout purposes; Icy you and Stormy will wait in a back alley near the restaurant, Knut you and the Ghuls will knock Stella out, we will then take Stella back to a house that I have acquired for the purpose of the mission, take the ring from her allowing me to copy it, and return it to her, We'll then return her to the back alley where you will wake up being the heroes who saved her from her mysterious attackers; which for the purposes of this scenario will be Knut and the Ghuls, only Knut will assume the guise of a human for this scenario the alias of Mr. Logan a dark warlock who secretly hired the Ogre to steal her ring; while you three are waiting for her to recover consciousness we'll make sure it looks like there was an epic fight, while I implant false memories of the date in Brandon's head" Erasiel explained.

"All right but how do make sure no one comes looking for her, didn't Griselda and Faragonda confine them to their dorm?" Darcy asked.

"Yes and no more, I managed to convince Faragonda to let them off being confined to their rooms for their help in the Swamp, but I couldn't get her to budge on the school cleaning, but that doesn't matter anyway in fact that helps with another plan I had, one to cement their trust in us further; however, that plan only works if we can pull this one off without something going wrong" Erasiel responded, the Trix nodded in agreement.

Later that day… Erasiel had called Riven and had her deliver the message to Stella, he thought he did a pretty good job forging Brandon's signature and handwriting; and Stella fell for it hook, line and sinker. Unaware to Erasiel Stella was busy changing into her dress for the occasion, while in the adjoining dorm room Bloom was busy teaching Flora how to play Warhammer tabletop, and had just started a demonstration of a match between her Empire and Vampire Counts armies which was having the desired effect, Flora was quickly understanding the rules and was getting the hang of the game. "Well Bloom, Flora I'm off on my date see you later" Stella commented.

"Good Luck Stella" and "Have fun" were what Flora and Bloom had to say, while Musa was too busy with video games and had her music on full blast to hear Stella and Tecna was busy playing video games with Musa and wasn't paying any attention, Stella smiled and left. Shortly after leaving her dorm she was ambushed by Griselda who was wearing a different outfit than usual, but it was still utilitarian in design.

"Where do you think you're going Miss Stella?" Griselda inquired blocking Stella's path like a bridge troll.

"On a date" Stella responded.

"Which she is going to be going on and you aren't stopping her" Faragonda stated, "By the way good luck have fun Stella, also Griselda come here, I have a request from Professor Gelt for a lot of saltpeter and you are going to pick it up for him and bring it back to Alfea" Faragonda continued, Griselda snorted and then followed the headmistress, leaving Stella to leave.

Erasiel was already waiting for Stella and now while waiting he made sure that the Trix had taken all the proper precautions, most of which involved helping Knut to get his lines down properly and to make sure he didn't mess up; the Trix made sure to get the point across that if he messed up Erasiel would not hesitate to dispose of him and find them a new troll, they also made sure the Ghuls understood their place in the plan and made sure the creatures were ready for both parts of the plan, them swarming Stella and knocking her out, followed by creating a battle scene for the Trix to step into afterward, this stage was a lot easier, also they had prepared a portal to a cottage that Erasiel had purchased specifically for the purpose of the plan, and which Erasiel intended to use as a place for Knut to lay low if it failed; Erasiel had considered killing him but he viewed that as a last option for any scenario.

Erasiel soon found himself waiting in front of the restaurant that he had invited Stella to, it was a decent place with good food, however it wasn't out his budget even remotely, the pay tab for the date was like a drop out of an ocean, one that happened to be constantly filling itself, he was not afraid to go all out, on this occasion however he was assuming the guise of somebody else and on top of that the person was acting as a decoy for the real person he was guarding. So, in light of that fact plus that this was only a first date Erasiel was keeping the venue modest and out of the way so that no one could interfere in his plans, speaking of said plans; he already had Faceless monitoring the general area around the restaurant for any trouble and had Dark Elf Assassins on standby in case of witnesses to the latter part of his plan. "Keep yourself focused Erasiel; step 1 carry out the date don't act even remotely suspiciously, step 2 keep your cover under wraps she cannot know that you are really Erasiel Nathan Darkar, step 3 finish the date and lure Stella into the trap, step 4 implement the trap, step 5 take Stella's Ring, copy it and return it, step 6 allow the Trix to take credit for saving her" Erasiel mused in his head, after doing so Stella arrived and he examined her dress, which was sky blue and had sleeves, she wore modest pumps and of course her ring, which Erasiel wasn't eyeing as he was focused more on Stella's natural beauty and all that accompanied it.

The Solorian Princess approached and acted a bit nervous but that faded rather quickly "Hey Prince Sky, nice to see you here, I'm glad to see you waiting for me" Stella greeted, Erasiel curtsied and then took her hand, giving her an injection from his ring, and they walked inside, arranged for a table for two and received it, Erasiel then made sure to order his usual but made sure to allow Stella to go first. The Waitress took their orders and Erasiel couldn't help but sneak a slight butt-pinch at said waitress, who was rather attractive with her long brown hair and glasses; whose name was Lenora, Stella didn't notice him do this as it was quite out of sight and happened far too quick to be noticed. "So now that we are finally here together why don't you tell me more about yourself" Stella asked.

"I have been good, honestly it is tough being Prince of Eraklyion" Erasiel stated.

"Oh, I can see, how tough and what is it that irks you the most" Stella asked.

"To be honest it's the fact that there is so much attention focused on me, my parents have such high hopes for me and I don't think I'll live up to them" Erasiel lied, so far Stella hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary and was generally relaxed; he also noted that the Phoenix blood was having the desired effect as she accepted everything he said as fact. "So, did you hear about the latest news? Princess Esdeath just rejected another suiter and she did a number on him" Erasiel responded, attempting to make small talk, this was all the excuse Stella needed to go on tangent about the latest gossip until their drinks arrived, he noted her preference for Mountain Dew and noted that for future reference, he made sure to let her know his opinions when it came to certain political issues, notable though he made a note to avoid an important thing that he researched and this he made sure wouldn't go public for a while, the news of Sky's betrothal to Princess Diaspro of Isis one of Eraklyion's lesser kingdoms, but one that he made sure wasn't public knowledge to Stella or to anyone else on Magix bar the real Prince Sky; In fact he only knew of the Betrothal from Icy, something that he noted caused her both anger and sadness, he hadn't pressed the issue but mention of Sky made her lose her cool for a brief second before resuming her normal cold calculating demeanor. Stella's chatter returned to the Whisperia's politics when she said what she thought of Esdeath's recent break up, that was she thought it absolutely hilarious which he agreed with.

"I only hope my father doesn't get any bright ideas about an arranged marriage with Princess Esdeath" Erasiel commented, he knew full well that King Erendor wasn't going to do so because of the arranged marriage with Diaspro, though the thought of that relationship made him shudder, mainly because he knew that would never work out, Erasiel himself as Erasiel didn't think any relationship between him and Esdeath would be a good idea and that wasn't just because he had plans for the Trix, he was fully aware of what Esdeath did to men she didn't like and that was something that he wanted to avoid if he wanted to keep himself intact and not have to suicide an incarnation due some part of him being removed, like an arm or a leg, or worse eyes or at absolute worse being made a eunuch; also he believed that Esdeath was not someone he wanted to be remotely near mainly because A she was extremely powerful, not as strong as him though not even remotely close it was like comparing a planet to a galaxy, B though beautiful she was an absolute tomboy, a Yamadere, and didn't like anyone thinking that they were her equal in partnership, C he doubted his ring would work on her, and D she was Darancar's daughter and his plans to put Icy on Whisperia's throne didn't allow him to pursue her, he swore an oath to Seranna that he would place her eldest daughter on Whisperia's throne and he fully intended to do so, also there was the fact that he refused to be associated with Darancar's schemes.

Erasiel and Stella's conversation would have continued further but the food arrived and Erasiel was quick to begin eating while Stella wasn't too far behind on doing so. After dinner Erasiel paid the tab and left a generous tip to their waitress and by generous about a year's salary, Stella was shocked by his generosity and large amount of money but he easily wrote that off as allowance and she accepted that; they then departed; went three blocks down, and separated, then after wandering off he gave the signal to the Trix a solitary fireball which Stella didn't notice, Erasiel had at this point changed into his normal civilian garb and then flew up to the nearest rooftop to observe the plan.

Stella looked around when she noticed the familiar figure of a certain ogre duck into a back alley, she immediately pursued him, and suddenly he vanished into the darkness of the alley, she then saw a short funny looking brown messy haired man wearing glasses and the garb of warlock. "Get her my Ghuls!" the man shouted, suddenly out of the shadows from either side Ghuls came swarming towards her from either side and there were many of them too many, despite how quickly Stella turned into her Charmix and how many spells they swarmed her, though they didn't claw her they did drag her down and two of the creatures obstructed her mouth stopping her from breathing until she passed out. Stella lay unconscious, her fairy form turning back to her normal form and to her gown, from the shadows the Trix emerged floating and from the front of the alley Erasiel entered clapping slowly.

"It worked!" Stormy cheered eagerly, Erasiel shushed her and approached the unconscious Stella, then removed her ring and planted a light kiss on her forehead, the man turned into Knut in his baggy purple overhauls, while the Ghuls stood look out, Erasiel and the Trix entered a portal that he opened followed by Knut and the Ghuls carrying the unconscious Stella, they emerged inside the cottage he had bought, he had Knut deposit Stella on a nearby futon and had the Trix watch her, while he took the Ring over to a nearby table, on which he had a ring that was in similar style but had the letter E over a large half-moon and the ring itself was purple as opposed to the blue, Erasiel studied the enchantment then used a spell to copy said enchantment, he then picked up the new ring and it turned into a staff-like scepter similar to Stella's own then he vanished from sight and appeared behind Darcy "BOO!" Erasiel stated, noted that none of the Trix were frightened then giggled. "Always wanted to have one of these" Erasiel stated, then handed the ring to Icy. "Now that we are done with that Knut, take the Ghuls and Stella back thru the portal, Trix you know what to do next" Erasiel stated.

An Hour later Stella woke up to Icy looking her in the face. "Finally, you're awake you've been out for a bit" Icy stated to a rather confused Stella, who noted the Ghuls frozen in ice blocks, as well as an ogre impaled on an ice spike and a warlock with broken glasses and torn robes and well-cooked flesh which Stella could smell, the bodies were genuine and not illusions as Erasiel had found suitable body doubles for the purpose of his plan, but Stella didn't know that.

"What happened, the last thing I remember was Ghuls swarming me and then I blacked out" Stella stated.

"We saved your life, we were in the neighborhood and heard the racket, then the Ghuls and company attacked, it took us a bit to deal with them, we stayed here until you woke up" Darcy answered as sincerely as she could.

"I don't know what to say, thank you; I honestly never believed the witches of Cloud Tower were of the type to care" Stella stated as Darcy helped her up.

"An unfortunate stereotype Stella, Witches like faeries fight the forces of darkness we just use different methods and magic" Icy stated.

"Where's my Ring?" Stella asked noticing its absence from her finger.

"Here" Icy stated handed it to her. "That Warlock tried to use it during the fight against us, unfortunately for him it made a good lightning rod that Stormy exploited to his downfall" she continued.

"Thanks for stopping them, at least I don't have to worry about them trying to steal my ring ever again" Stella thanked.

"Indeed, you won't we'll notify the police about the incident, so you don't have to worry about that in fact we won't mention you at all in the report, so it saves you the trouble of all that paperwork, you want us to accompany you back to Alfea or are you fine to get there on your own?" Stormy inquired, Stella noted a slight pain in her knee but other than that she was alright.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I can get back on my own" Stella responded, then left the alley, unaware of Erasiel on a rooftop above watching the whole scene play out.

After the Stella had left Erasiel gracefully hopped down the fire escape from the roof and landed next to the Trix. "Congratulations on a success, you three have more surpassed my expectations, they were high, yet you exceeded them, indeed you deserve your reward" Erasiel congratulated.

"Yes, the Dragon Flame, like you promised" Icy stated victoriously.

"Indeed, I did and I'm a man of my word, come with me" Erasiel stated, then lead the Trix through a portal which led back to Cloud Tower and to the Trix's room.

"So where is it?" Icy asked annoyed at the fact they were in their dorm room instead of some grand chamber where she expected the flame to be residing on an altar.

"Oh yes the Dragon Flame, or the Eternal Flame, I said knew how to get it for you but not specifically, now stand close together" Erasiel stated, and the Trix complied, he then let out a surge of energy from himself, that energy flowed into the Trix, their eyes glowed red at infusion of magical energy, the current of red energy flowed into them, soon moments later the flow vanished the Trix's eyes returned to normal.

"What did you do?!" Stormy asked incredulously.

"I gave you the Dragon Flame of course, I didn't tell you I had it on me; I have the power of the Eternal Flame as a Phoenix one of the three children races of the Great Dragon Sharukanaath and his sister Edheladrill the Great Shadow Phoenix, he poured his power into my race at our inception first the 15 Greater Phoenixes and then the rest of our race and that power resides in every one of my race, from newest hatchling to Asha the Phoenix Queen, the other Elder Races are the Great Dragons and the Faceless" Erasiel responded.

"You mean to say you had it the whole time?" Darcy asked.

"Yes, I did, I told I knew how to get it for you, just not how, besides isn't it easier to receive the Dragon Flame as a reward then to steal it" Erasiel responded.

"Yes, it is" Icy responded and they all laughed.

"Good now get some sleep tomorrow I will teach you three how to use it" Erasiel stated, the Trix complied, Erasiel noted that his plan had worked, and he began to test out his newest toy he would make good use of it.


	8. Arc 1 Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Friends in Need

A new day dawned and Erasiel was already up, he stepped out of the room to allow the Trix to change, he then noted the day was Saturday and remembered the Winx had been punished for something that was not their fault. He then decided the best way for the Trix and him to build a friendship and alliance would be to help them with their task, so far, he had already established the Trix as trustworthy, now the time came to establish an official friendship.

Erasiel then returned to the Trix's room to inform them of his plan, after explaining the benefits of said plan they were quick to jump on board; it also helped that they remembered his gift of the Dragon Flame yesterday which helped him know that he had cemented their trust in him. The day was rather clear which didn't stay that way for long when he had Stormy practice her new spells which essentially caused it to rain and rain hard, the weather report was completely out of whack when magic was involved and even more so when Stormy was the cause. With regards to their training the Trix were improving and exceeding with regards to the topic, they were becoming strong rather quickly, however Erasiel still held cards to his chest; he was not willing to give them more until they had mastered what they had so far, besides the Dragon Flame opened some interesting options with regards to magic and it gave the Trix more to learn.

During the off time Erasiel was inclined to take notes with regards to the other witches in Cloud Tower, something that he hadn't had time to do so far, but he noted it would be important if he was staying here long term, also if he identified strong potential candidates now he would be able to educate them as well as the Trix providing an useful mix, of the students he observed he took interest in one in particular as she reminded of a certain witch who was also a faerie, specifically Faragonda: the name of the witch in question was Mirta, She was a pale girl with freckles, grey eyes, and short burgundy hair that had a long blue streak in it, with a few beads separating it from the rest of her hair. Her most frequent outfit had a punk goth style to it. She wore a frayed white shirt with a pumpkin decal in the middle, a gray shirt underneath that shirt, and a black vest that covers both. Her black skirt had a gray layer on it and is held up by two belts, white and dark red respectively. She wore dark red leggings underneath the skirt. Her black boots are knee-high with grey straps on them. She accessorized with grey arm cuffs, her figure and age were the same as the Trix though she had been held back do to disagreements with Professor Eritrude. Erasiel regarded Mirta with obvious interest both in the romantic department and in the skill department, but her biggest quality was her obvious ability in different lores of magic which allowed her to use Illusion magic, light magic, dark magic and to an extent nature magic; her personality though didn't suit a witch, in fact it suited a fairy more, so as to how she ended up in Cloud Tower of all places was beyond his guess. Erasiel now resolved to build up a relationship with Mirta, then have her transferred to Alfea, where she could be taught as Fairy as well as witch, she was also a senior witch like the Trix though not as powerful, so she would have all the abilities that came with that level of education.

Erasiel's Faceless friends meanwhile were keeping an eye on Alfea, and soon Gripmaw came to Erasiel. "My lord, I bring you some information that may be of use to you, the entire Alfea staff and students are going to concert in Magix tonight, however the Winx and the other faeries are being left behind to clean the school, they won't have access to magic" Gripmaw reported.

"Interesting and useful, Gripmaw gather a group of Faceless and have them monitor Alfea and await further orders" Erasiel commanded, Gripmaw nodded then flew off leaving Erasiel to grin. "This will be more useful then I originally planned" Erasiel thought to himself then studied the forests around Cloud Tower, he noted Forest Goblins fighting against a Beastmen war herd with the Goblins winning due to archers hiding in trees who were equipped with poison arrows, the barriers around the forests kept these dangerous creatures away from the schools as did a number of fortifications, the Beastmen while aggressive were not stupid as to fight outside their forests. He noted that the Goblins strategy was above that of the Beastman, who usually focused on ambushes and didn't handle being on the receiving end of one well. "This is why you don't underestimate Goblins" Erasiel thought to himself. Erasiel however lost his focus when a certain purple haired witch pressed himself against him. "Hi Stormy" Erasiel greeted turning to face her.

"Hey Nathan, what are you doing?" Stormy asked.

"Just watching some Forest Goblins beat the crap out of some Beastmen, it is quite amusing because so many people think Goblins don't pose a serious threat, however looks can be deceiving and you underestimate your enemy at your own peril especially if they are Goblins as goblins are very smart despite their size which is why so many people underestimate them" Erasiel responded. "So why are you here?" he asked.

"Looking to spend some time with you, you know you are the first guy I have met that wasn't either afraid of me or treated me like I was an object, that means something to me, I know you're my tutor, but I would be more then interested in going out with you, as for my sisters I don't mind sharing you with them, also I asked them if they felt the same way and they do" Stormy responded with a twinkle in her sea blue eyes.

"I accept that, I am perfectly fine with that" Erasiel responded, then pecked her on the cheeks, she responded by kissing him on the lips, it was a tender kiss and no doubt her first actual kiss and it lasted briefly.

"I'm glad you accepted, to be honest you are a first guy I have ever dated, though not the first Icy has" Stormy responded.

"What's that about Icy" Erasiel asked curious about that detail.

"Oh that, I only thought it would be necessary to warn you about that, her ex dumped her very badly, it really hurt her and the way she found out was about it was bad, never met the guy myself; if I did it would've been bad news for him, also I probably could have told her he was bad news from the start, also before you ask Darcy hasn't met him either, though I will tell you if I ever find out who he is I will break every bone in his body and then some" Stormy stated he expressions varied from sadness, annoyance and then anger then back to happiness throughout the conversation.

Hours later Erasiel had talked with Darcy and Icy and they were ready to head to Alfea, apparently the entire school, staff and students had gone to concert in Magix City, leaving the Winx and the other fairies tasked with cleaning the school behind, this couldn't have gone any better for his plan. Erasiel and the Trix hovered into a large room, where they found the Winx and the other five fairies at work preforming various cleaning acts, none of them had noticed them yet. "Need some help?" Erasiel asked, causing everyone to face him and the Trix.

"Nathan what are you doing here?" Bloom asked, as did everyone else.

"Just watching you work, I actually came here to offer help" Erasiel stated.

"How exactly?' Musa asked not fully sure as to why Erasiel and the Trix were keen on coming here to help them.

"Rather simple, I intend to help by having my Faceless servants do this job for you, I found the whole thing unjust punishment as the whole fight at the dance was my fault in the first place" Erasiel stated as if on cue numerous shadowy figures materialized with cleaning supplies.

"You're fault how?" Musa asked taken aback.

"I was the one who told you that Pig-face groped your butt Musa, also I threw the first punch and a half-starved crazed weasel in the fight, also I found the whole situation hilarious, also I intend to help you as way to once again make a mockery of Griselda" Erasiel responded, Everyone grinned at the mention of Griselda being mocked. "Anyway, while the Faceless clean up the mess I thought we could hold a small party, it's not much compared the concert downtown, but it's the best I can think of at short notice, also look at it as a reward for humbling some noble prick Specialists the other day" Erasiel responded, to which everyone cheered. "By the way love the new name you girls are going by the Winx, nice name and original and on top of it all catchy" Erasiel commented.

"Thanks for the offer" Flora stated. "But I'm not sure it's the right thing to do" she added.

"Don't worry Flora, I intend to make sure nothing goes wrong, also I made sure that concert downtown will go into overtime" Erasiel stated.

Everyone soon dispersed, the Faceless took up the mantle of cleaning the School, while the group heading to the largest room they could find, Erasiel had made sure to bring his personal collection of music and Musa had a larger collection of albums. Setting up everything proved to be simpler than expected because everyone pulled their weight, it took a half-hour to get refreshments ready but Faceless made light of this task, after about an hour of preparations everything was ready, Erasiel started the music and the party commenced.

As the party went on Erasiel found that the ladies couldn't avoid flirting with him, he danced with Flora and Emily, sung with Amaryl and Francine, Musa inched herself to him by moonwalking backwards to him and they had a pretty good discussion, Erasiel also continued a talk with Tecna, overall the party was going along smoothly, however that would soon change.

In the absence of Faragonda the protective barrier around Alfea had weakened slightly, this had been Erasiel's doing to get the Trix and himself into the school however this had an unintended side effect that anything that wanted to get in could get thru the hole he had opened in the protective barrier. Soon something did, an Outcast Minotaur by the name of Khurdos; this minotaur had been driven out of his local Beastman tribe due to eating the tribe's bray-shaman, he had also been mutated due to previous accomplishments which had gained him the favor of Tzeentch the god of Change, the most powerful of the four Chaos Gods specifically the most powerful in the Magic Dimension due to the absurd levels of magic and the constantly change in the Dimension as a whole, his skin was now a bright blue and he had a mane of red hair, his most distinguishing feature however was the extra set of arms in which alongside his original set he held large morning stars, he was clad in armor, and was in the mood to destroy stuff, which he now was going to do just that, he smashed thru the walls of Alfea and let out loud roar which could be heard inside the school, he then began to smash other things, Erasiel was alerted by Gripmaw who had been keeping an eye on outside in case the school staff and students returned.

Erasiel shot to attention and killed the music, which got everyone's attention they all now could hear the noise outside. "What is going on, what's that racket outside" Emily asked.

"That my dear Emily is the sound of an angry four-armed minotaur smashing the courtyard and now the front door" Erasiel responded, as he received an update from Gripmaw that Khurdos had broken down the door and was heading inside.

"What do we do?" Flora asked.

"We fight it" Bloom responded causing the other faeries to look at her with shock as they had no magic.

"No Bloom is right, between the 14 of us we can handle a minotaur even if most of you are only freshmen" Erasiel stated only to be interrupted by Amaryl who told them they had no magic, then they gathered into three groups, team one would be Erasiel and the Trix, team two would be the Winx, and team three would be Emily, Ortensia, Amaryl, Francine and Jennifer. Team three would distract the minotaur and lure him out into the courtyard, team two would be the secondary bait while Erasiel and Trix would deal main attack, the plan was simple, draw the minotaur into the open then attack from all sides and do him in.

Khurdos was angry, he picked up Griselda's clipboard and smashed it, then tore up her office which he had found his way into, he was keen on just smashing anything and everything. "HEY UGLY THE SCHOOL'S ON BREAK!" Amaryl yelled at Khurdos which made him angry, he moved to gore her only for her jump over him and to run off, he followed her, then received a side attack from Emily who threw a stool at him, which hurt and caused him to run in her direction, the rest of team three harassed him angering him and more as they drew him out into the courtyard, where he was attacked from the side as the Winx threw rocks at him, Khurdos was hurt badly but his rage allowed him to power thru his wounds and charge morning stars in head toward his attackers only to have them jump out of his reach at the last second causing him crash into a wall his horns stuck in it, suddenly he found himself under attack from every direction and his armor was rent and hide was torn by magical attacks from all sides caused by Erasiel, the Trix and the Faceless, suddenly a massive fireball hit him and life faded from Khurdos's eyes as he lay on the ground fried beef and all.

"Minotaur burger anyone?" Erasiel asked, causing everyone to glare at him.

"That was awesome!" Stormy yelled.

"Indeed, that was fun" Jennifer noted.

"You sure know how fight and we make a great team how would you all like to join the Winx" Bloom asked.

"Thanks, but no, we Trix are family and are our own team" Icy responded.

"Maybe someday" Amaryl responded, as did the other faeries causing Bloom to turn to Erasiel.

"That depends do you accept guys into your club Bloom" Erasiel asked.

"I have no problems with that" Bloom responded, also the Other Winx made remarks about Erasiel, mostly about how hot he was, and that Flora, Musa, and Tecna were more than keen to let their new love interest into the club, Stella was the only one who was silent, but she thought about then she agreed. "Welcome to the Club" Bloom answered.

"Then its official I'm a Winx" Erasiel remarked.

Suddenly all celebrations we cut short by the sudden arrival of Faragonda, Griselda and everyone else returning from the concert leaving Griselda angry, and Faragonda puzzled as to the scene in front of her. Erasiel himself was unsure how to respond, he didn't betray how he was shocked that Gripmaw didn't warn him about them, leaving him the option of humor. "Minotaur Burger anyone?" Erasiel joked, the Winx and Trix glared at him as the joke wasn't funny the second time not that it had been originally.

"What are you doing here Erasiel and what happened?" Faragonda asked.

"Minotaur hunting" Erasiel stated hoping she would buy that. "I know you're not going to buy that one, alright I'll level with you honey; I felt bad for the Winx and came here to help them clean the school, now don't even think about punishing them for this, and leave the Trix out of this they're here with me and under my protection also I outrank you as council head so not punishing them is an order, we had a party and suddenly this minotaur comes roaring into the school smashing stuff, so we killed him, don't worry about the mess I'll have the Faceless clean it up just like they did everything else, so that's the story and I'm sorry, also Griselda the minotaur wrecked your office" Erasiel explained, Griselda mad with rage charged towards the Winx only to be restrained by Kerborg and Gripmaw in their true faceless forms instead of bat forms, in their true forms they were large floating shadows but had wings and their faces were mask-like in appearance however they still had human like features with hair that resembled cowls and they had large wings that were angel-like but were Byzantine purple in color while they wore plate armor made of Relix.

"I see, well then you are at fault Erasiel, now I am capable of punishing the Winx however I am incapable of punishing you given your position, in light of that and the fact that you outrank me: no one will be punished, also the Winx and company will be rewarded for their heroism" Faragonda responded at that everyone cheered.


	9. Arc 1 Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Day of the Rose

Erasiel had woken up earlier then he would've any other day but today was special day in the Magic Dimension, it was the Day of the Rose otherwise called Mother's day, he noted that humans on Earth celebrated it a month earlier in May and celebrated Father's day in June, which was off for Erasiel, but it didn't really bother him. Anyway, the chief reason he got up so early was because he had a gift for that special somebody that the holiday was about for him anyway, Erasiel, despite his disagreements that he had with his mother when it came to ethics and how he lived his life, loved his mother Avarra Darkar dearly; and he knew her better then she probably knew herself; which allowed him to make sure he knew what to give her as presents for her birthday, Mother's day and Christmas. Speaking of gifts he had made the presents he was giving her himself, a golden statute of him and his siblings was the first, followed by a cloak of his own feathers, a broadsword he had forged himself for her, and lastly fine silver threaded pillows which had images of the crest of House Darkar; that of a Phoenix with a crown on his head with 7 stars above the scene as well as the crest of House Brightstone which consisted of large meteor being mined by Dwarves, Humans, and Phoenixes.

Erasiel soon arrived at Brightspire Palace the home of his mother during the summer and spring, during the autumn and winter she lived in Shadowhaunt with his father, but for now she lived in Brightspire. Erasiel took in the view once again of his mother's home, its many ziggurats and spires decorated its walls and many buildings that made up it however they were all dwarfed by the grand Brightspire in the center of the Palace which towered over the citadel. The Palace however was heavily fortified and protected by 4 great walls, however Erasiel and other Phoenixes could fly over these barriers, however those barriers offered protection against anything else that wanted to attack the Brightspire. The Palace itself was populated by his Mother's followers and worshipers, as well as her retainers and many handmaidens, there were also city districts in which the lesser races of Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Orcs, Lizardmen, and Dragon Ogres, amongst others lived. To call Brightspire a palace would only be referring to part of Brightspire, Brightspire was a metropolis, the gem of Solaria which answered to nobody but Avarra and Asha.

Erasiel arrived at the Palace, he was welcomed by the elite guards and the towering Relix armored Dragon Ogres at the front gates and allowed entry, he was followed by two Faceless servants Maldox and Rentar who carried the presents, he proceeded thru the passageways, being greeted by retainers, courtiers, and handmaidens alike. The Handmaidens were especially fond of him and a number of his brood-mates were handmaids of his mother or were until they moved in with him, Erasiel moved about the palace with relative calm, despite the fact that this was one of his two childhood homes Erasiel never exactly felt comfortable in his mother's house because of the fact that she had tried to throughout his childhood to teach him her dogmatic beliefs ones which had no interest in whatsoever as well as tried to block every attempt at flirting with her handmaids, courtiers and retainers who had interest in him, however these were completely unsuccessful and she eventually gave up on that fortunately, Erasiel never had these problems with his Father, in fact his father encouraged him to do so, but with his mother his womanizing and nymphomania was always an issue however she never tried to beat it out of him not that doing that would have changed anything.

As he had been musing however Erasiel had gone farther into the palace then he liked but was pretty sure he knew where his mother was; during this time however his thoughts went to Winx, specifically Bloom who he was still trying to grasp her origins and arguing back and forth if she was the Bloom, the princess of Domino who had gone missing 16 years ago, something which dogged him to no end however whenever he got too stressed with the matter he thought of the other Winx: Musa with her beautiful voice and her kind heart and extreme interest in him, Sweet Flora and her shyness but all so cute, kind, caring, and sweet all the same and her feelings for him, Tecna and her emotionless demeanor however he knew how she really felt about him. Then there were the Trix, all three of them had the hots for him, as did other faeries and a number of witches, Erasiel noted that his schedule had a date with Jennifer the blue haired ice fairy who had been quite good at what they needed to do which at the time was beating the crap out of a T'zeentch marked four-armed Minotaur and before that a large group of Goblins.

Erasiel's thoughts were closed as he walked into the Grand Orchard, a large garden in which fair plants from all over the Magic Dimension grew, however the center piece were the grand Hesperide Apple trees; the golden apples spoken of in many tales often thought of as mythical, how wrong they were; these were ancient trees that were taller than many of the minarets, ziggurats and spires of the Palace and city itself; tall enough to dwarf most skyscrapers, they had silver bark and electrum colored leaves however these things weren't what the trees were known for no they were known for their golden apples the Hesperia, solid golden apples that only Phoenixes knew how to turn into actual edible apples which had the greatest taste of all things, however these trees were guarded by the Dracos, poisonous wyrm dragons with five heads and could spew their poison if need arises, they were always vigilant and in addition to these beasts were the Hesperides, fair Phoenix maidens that tended to the trees but were some of the mightiest warriors in the entire universe they were clad in glorious gowns which were armored and they wore numerous variety of decorations in their hair most of which were apple like. The Trees themselves however were rare, only a few of the oldest houses and the greater phoenixes themselves having them in their gardens, Erasiel and his siblings however had their own orchards in their personal palaces, however the trees in those gardens were relatively young, the towering giants in their mother's orchard were twice their age and that was saying something considering the fact the orchards in Erasiel's palace on Magix were planted when he was 23 and now he was over 3 billion years old.

Erasiel searched the groove and found his mother, she was wearing a golden yellow and orange gown, as well as circlet of gold with the crests of a sun and stars decorating it, these were studded in the finest citrines and diaspros which shimmed in the radiant sunlight of Solaria's three suns which always shined proud and rain rarely occurred, his mother's long black hair flowed like a lion's proud mane and her eyes met his, the eyes were the same as his own as he had inherited her brown eyes, her figure was generously endowed however it was graceful, and she walked with the grace of ballerina dancing beside her sat a basket of golden apples Hesperia. "Erasiel I am glad to see you my son" Avarra greeted but she was quickly cut off by a firm loving hug and received a kiss on her cheek.

"Happy Mother's day" Erasiel stated calmly then released his mother.

"I'm so glad you remembered" Avarra responded.

"I'd never forget Mom, you know we may have our disagreements, but I still love you, also I brought presents" Erasiel stated and then nodded to the two faceless who accompanied him to bring them to her.

"How thoughtful, I hope you didn't go overboard though" Avarra responded she liked his mother's day gifts but she didn't like him spending too much on her.

"Don't worry I have something special for you, I made all these myself with some help from others, but you'll love them" Erasiel responded, then handed the gift-wrapped presents to his mother who opened them, she was shocked to see each gift and the lengths at which Erasiel had gone for her.

"I hope you like them, that sword is Relix by the way and it took me six months to forge it, also the statutes are the finest gold, and the silver-threading in those gowns is actual silver though the they are as much from Irietta as they are from me" Erasiel explained.

"I'm so grateful Erasiel, you have outdone yourself, and importantly you made these yourself I am so proud of you my son" Avarra responded then kissed Erasiel on his cheek.

"Have my brother and sisters given you their presents yet?" Erasiel asked.

"Indeed they have, Zephyr was well reserved and emo as usual but she did smile when I opened her presents and when I hugged her, speaking of Zephyr she misses your touch, be good Brood mate and visit her later, same goes with Irietta, but she was extremely happy to see me happy with her presents, Eris was as affectionate as usually and was glad when I told her I loved her gifts, and Arantir, well your brother is as queer as he ever is but he did smile at least" Avarra explained, Erasiel was happy to see that his siblings had done their part, and he noted that he had to pay his brood-mate older sisters Zephyr and Irietta a visit. Erasiel's siblings were well, eccentric: Zephyr was full emo and full goth, and was long before it was a thing on Earth, but she did have a happy side that she revealed only to him and their mother, Irietta was caring and fully loving and Erasiel loved her more than anyone else and that meant anyone else and those feelings were mutual, Eris well his twin sister was over-affectionate too over-affectionate to the point where she had caused his first death by accidently crushing his wind-pipe in a hug when he was 14, it really irked him, fortunately Eris rarely left Shadowhaunt and was quite content to stay in her room, well room was an understatement it was her own private dimension she ruled over and had many adventures in, so he was glad she rarely got out much, of his siblings she was the one he avoided like the plague because of her attitude and over-affection. Then there was Arantir, his little brother, extremely queer in that he was Bi-sexual and thus was attracted to beautiful women and handsome men, he was also the most powerful Necromancer in the Magic Dimension, as well as a fervent follower of Asha's spider god aspect and was always wandering, Erasiel regarded his younger brother with a great deal of both respect and annoyance as they disagreed on Asha's principles with her religion, though Arantir always stated that his opinions were a bit biased as he was her Consort and the Phoenix King, which left him with a lot of clot; however his brother was interested in his own games which as long as they didn't mess with Erasiel's own plans he was perfectly fine to leave his younger brother to his own devices and on occasion help.

Erasiel spent about an hour with his mother before returning to Magix he had a lot planned for today, and was keen on finding out more about Bloom, Erasiel soon returned to Cloud Tower and soon the Trix's room where he found a pretty excited Darcy holding a flyer.

"Nice to see you handsome, I got news for you, the Race of the Rose is on and got into the competition this year, I'm so excited to finally get a chance to get my Windrider in the race" Darcy explained to Erasiel, he noted Icy and Stormy looking rather calm but noted they were ignoring Darcy and focused on their own thing.

"That reminds me Darcy I have a gift for you" Erasiel stated, he knew what she loved having been dating for a week now and had spared no expense in the gift.

"Really show me Nathan" Darcy responded Erasiel nodded and she followed him.

They arrived shortly at the Cloud Tower Garage where Erasiel had docked his Space Strider, he knew which Hover-Bike was Darcy's Windrider as it had been excessively modified and had purple paint job with images of Darcy's Vacuum crystal and the heliotrope on her favorite blouse, beside it however was something covered by a large tarp with a note on it that said to Darcy from Nathan, she walked up and took of the tarp and let out a yelp of joy seeing the gift, Brand-new Space Strider hover-bike, which Erasiel had bought for it also had a custom paint job on it however he had painted the image of a five headed hydra breathing fire into the air, the symbol of house Trix, but she didn't know why, however it was otherwise decorated, and sitting in the driver's seat was a purple colored Space Strider suit and helmet, the suit was purple but was clad in high-tech armor to protect from injuries also allow the rider to go at faster speeds. Darcy soon affectionately hugged him and kissed him tenderly, soon she broke the kiss and said "Thank you for this wonderful gift"

"I knew you'd like it, so what about trying it out in the race later" Erasiel commented.

"I couldn't do that, its Windriders only and even if I did have the option I would still take my Windrider, this baby is fresh off the market and even though you've had it painted, love the image of the Hydra by the way, I still haven't had the opportunity to bring this baby up to my standards with modifications, I will however take the suit, it will make me stand out more than my regular one, and with this suit I can go faster" Darcy explained. "Anyway, I have to get my bike to the track, the race starts in two hours and I can't be late" Darcy followed up then took her new suit and put it on over her day clothes then parked herself on her bike and started it. "Get my sisters, I'll meet you at the festival" Darcy stated, Erasiel nodded then left to get Icy and Stormy.

"Hey Icy, Stormy, get yourselves ready we are going to the Festival of the Rose to go see Darcy compete in the Race of the Rose!" Erasiel shouted causing Icy and Stormy to jump up in alarm.

"Oh, that'll be exciting I can't wait to see Darcy kick the other racers asses in this race" Stormy commented, soon they were ready and high tailed it for downtown Magix.

Erasiel and the two Trix sisters wandered the bazaar which had been packed, then he noted the Winx, well four of them, he had no idea where Musa was, but he could see Stella, Flora, Bloom, and Tecna he also noted three specialists were with them, he recognized Riven but also recognized the two other specialists, a fair skinned specialist, with blonde hair and blue eyes and a young man with tan skin and a medium, athletic build. He had short dark brown hair with bangs angled sharply towards his right eye. His eyes were brown. They wore common civilian attire he recognized them as Prince Sky (the Blonde) and Brandon his squire, he also noted that Riven stayed close to Tecna and she wore a purple blouse and red skirt, she rushed immediately to great him. "Nathan!" Riven shouted rushing and tackling him in a flying glomp.

"Hey, Riven nice to see you gorgeous, Hello Winx!" Erasiel stated and Winx walked up to greet him.

"Hey Bloom, who's this" Sky asked.

"Oh, my apologies we haven't met, Erasiel Nathan Darkar of that most prestigious house Darkar, son of Argulus and Avarra Darkar, Consort of the Phoenix Queen and as am the Phoenix King, glad to meet you" Erasiel greeted.

"Nice to meet you I'm Brandon, and I see you've met my girlfriend Bloom" Sky stated, he didn't notice Icy as she glared icicles at him and frowned.

"And I'm Prince Sky of Eraklyion, nice to meet someone as distinguished as yourself, normally I wouldn't believe you but that staff it a dead giveaway that you are nobility" Brandon.

"Nice to meet you as well, having fun with Stella I wager" Erasiel noted, Brandon smiled at that comment.

"So, Nathan what brings you here?" Flora asked.

"I came here to watch Darcy race and hopefully win" Erasiel responded then kissed Flora on the cheek and she blushed. "Hey where is Musa?" Erasiel asked.

"She went off to celebrate the Day of the Rose somewhere else, she seemed rather distant this morning" Bloom responded.

"Well hope you enjoy the race, why aren't you rooting for me though" Riven asked.

"Well I didn't know you were in the competition, I hope you win or at least place second" Erasiel responded, Erasiel then noted Bloom stumble for a moment then recover, almost as if she had briefly seen something. This concerned Erasiel, the group continued to wander around the bazaar, he noted however that Sky was glaring at him non-stop for him looking at Bloom, he ignored this and continued watching her for any unusual signs. Soon they came face to face with a dancer who was dressed as Sirenix nymph, she had curly black hair, caramel skin and wore an orange dress and mask she also wore a necklace of beads and two bracelets, then he saw Bloom stare at her for a long moment almost as if she had seen something other than the dancer; Erasiel was about to ask Bloom a question when Sky obstructed his view of Bloom intentionally, he noted this and realized that if Bloom would have another incident it wouldn't be noticed by him unless it was major.

Bloom herself had seen something though a spectral orange woman, twice the first a glimpse, and second time clearly dancing in place of dancer, she had twice however said her name, which concerned her, she was Bloom Peterson a normal Earth girl who turned out to be a fairy, well normal was beyond that point, what did this mysterious woman have to do with her? Bloom was also weary of her surroundings and couldn't help but notice Erasiel glancing at her, at first she thought it was just him checking out her looks, but it was something else, as if he knew she was seeing something or suspected it, the first thing only last a few seconds and the latter well everyone was watching the dancer. They continued onward pass the bazaar an into a large stadium, where at this point Darcy, Sky, and Riven left them to go down a hallway that was labeled racers only, leaving everyone else to head to the viewing booths.

Erasiel sat down and ended up sitting in between Icy and Flora, Bloom next to Flora and Stormy, while Tecna was next to Icy and Stella, who sat by Brandon who himself sat at the end of the row while Stormy sat at the other end.

Meanwhile in the racers lounge Darcy had donned her new rider suit which belonged to her new Space Strider, she held her helmet at her side. Riven and a number of others noted this and then Riven came to talk to her. "Nice suit where did you get it?" Riven asked as she studied Darcy's outfit.

"It was a gift, by the way good luck Riven and may the best girl win" Darcy responded earning a glare from the guys in the room, Riven laughed at the remark.

Then everyone went to their Bikes, Erasiel had brought Darcy's own Windrider in advance earlier, each competitor was allowed to bring their own Windrider if they wanted to; Darcy's however had been excessively modified to suit Darcy's desires and she made a few last minute checks to make sure everything was ready also she calibrated the engine to allow her to go faster than before as her new suit offered her the ability to endure faster speeds, she wasn't allowed to use magic apart from spells used to protect herself and the internal functions of her bike, however she didn't need to use magic to win though if she had been allowed to it would have guaranteed it as she would have been able to crash her opponents into each other with mind-control.

Soon the Riders began take off and began the speed accelerations as warm up to race start. Erasiel watched from his vantage point which had been good seats, then noted the snacks vendor. "Hey, get me four packets of honey roasted peanuts, a large popcorn and large Root beer!" Erasiel barked to the snack vendor who nodded and returned to his cart then came to Erasiel with his food in hand. "Thanks" Erasiel noted then gave a generous tip, he had no shortage of money and would never have a shortage of it. "Popcorn" he offered to Icy who took some, he also offered to Flora who also took some, he intended to split the popcorn, but the peanuts were his. The race was soon to start.

"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the 276th Day of Rose race, our competitors will be going for the grand prize, good luck out there today racers" an announcer boomed, Erasiel popped some peanuts into his mouth, the lights lit up going from red to yellow and then GO!

The race began and the riders accelerated, Darcy was left in the middle until she got an option to hit the nitro which allowed her to dash ahead of a number of other racers, she passed two specialists and a fairy from Alfea, then dashed to the head at the first lap, going in to first place, on the second lap she was overtaken by Sky who had become aggressive behind her and knocked aside the other racers, later on in the lap she caught up with him and began a contest of metal and speed to get ahead of him as they entered the third lap, Riven caught up behind and was jockeying to get in front of Darcy but she wasn't allowed her to get past her, once again she locked with Sky. "Give up you're not going to win, this is my race to win and I'm not going to lose to some witch from Cloud Tower, or to girl from my school who thinks she too good for her own good" Sky taunted to which Darcy responded with rough bash to his bike, her intentions being to knock him off, Sky then let out a number of misogynistic taunts which gave Darcy anger and adrenaline she then floured it and dashed ahead leaving Sky in the dust, he was soon knocked of his bike by Darcy as he caught up to her, allowing Riven to pass him, they soon were neck and neck in the final lap until Darcy hit the nitro once again and accelerated to the finish line in first, followed by Riven in a close second and an Alfea Fairy named Ahisa in third. Sky had placed dead last however he was unscathed from his fall due to the security precautions that had been in place in case of that specific scenario.

"YAH!" Icy roared into the crowd. "Hell Yeah! DARCY! DARCY! DARCY!" Stormy chanted jumping out of her seat, and the crowd followed her up, everyone applauding and chanting Darcy's name. Soon a few minutes leader Darcy stood atop a champions stand and received a trophy which was solid gold and decorated with blue stones and had the golden figure of a Windrider on top, she then removed her helmet and more people cheered, Riven grinned and fist bumped Darcy, while humble Ahisa just clapped for her.

Shortly afterward everyone was celebrating the race's conclusion Erasiel included however Sky was bitter, very bitter having been defeated "I can't believe I lost, and not just lost came in dead last, and on top of it all lost to a girl, not just a girl but a witch from Cloud Tower, me Prince Sky of Eraklyion" Sky thought to himself.

Erasiel noted the bitterness of the prince and was concerned he might do something he would regret, soon Sky snapped and tried to punch Darcy, who dodged him, he attempted to follow up his punch but Erasiel kneed him in the groin and punched him in the nose coming to Darcy's defense faster than Sky could blink (Not an exaggeration, Phoenixes are extremely fast and Erasiel is extremely fast among his own kind) any other man would have been knocked out by these blows but Sky was on his knees angry, his anger now on Erasiel.

"Come on Bloom, we're leaving" Sky stated, and Bloom reluctantly followed him.

Erasiel was only left to think on the events of the day, however he wanted to see Bloom and ask some questions about her incidents earlier, he wasn't sure and needed answers.

Later at Alfea… the Winx had returned to their Dorms, Erasiel arrived shortly afterward and walked in on the conversation about mothers. "So, Musa how is your mother?" Flora asked curiously, Musa looked rather grim and sad at the question, Erasiel sat at the table they were talking at without them noticing him either having entered or sitting down.

"Dead" Musa answered tearfully.

"I think it was would be better to touch open a lighter subject" Erasiel stated surprising everyone and making them jump, he knew Musa's mother Matlin and was not in the mood to have Musa have this conversation and be crying for the rest of the evening, he knew Musa too well thanks to her Father; Erasiel held himself to blame for Matlin's death to an extent it rivaled Musa's grief; his grief was stronger he had loved Matlin dearly and was one of her oldest friends and she was one of his former students from Graynor he held himself responsible for her death, she had died of an illness, not a natural one however as Faeries were immune to death from those though not immune from getting them, the illness was the venomous kiss of death from a Shade, one of the most violent and unforeseen deaths and Matlin had suffered it; one day during her performances with her husband Musa's father Ho-Boe, a former prince of Melody who had given up his claim for love and to become a musician, Matlin fell to ground will singing clutching at her side. She was bed-ridden for a month, Erasiel checking in on her, Musa being a little girl was said that her mother was in that state and even more so when she died bed-ridden and in agony from the kiss of death, Erasiel attended her funeral and blamed himself, he had thought of ways to bring her back, however most of those involved necromancy something that while his brother Arantir would have no qualms against using was something Erasiel had no desire to use for this purpose as he wanted her back alive, he blamed himself and to Matlin to a minor extent, she hadn't allowed him to give her the fire spark that would have resurrected her if she died. Erasiel still hunted for the shade responsible and vowed vengeance and hoped that maybe Musa could end the vile creature once and for all.

On a more lighter note Erasiel talked about his mother and how he felt about her both good and bad, as he wasn't going to shy away from talking about her faults which while few annoyed him to no end, mainly due to ethics, then Stella explained how her parents were divorced and Flora explained how her mother was caring and dear, Tecna commented that her mother was well, as much a mother as anyone could ask for but refused to go into further detail beyond her name Titania and some of her moments. Again, Tecna was all secret about her family, Erasiel knew she had something to hide a great deal, either she viewed them with disappointment or they were in a position of power she didn't want to disclose for personal reasons.

The conversation went on for hours but soon the time came for everyone to rest, Erasiel rested on the guest couch though not after watching Bloom for signs of unusual dreams, which she clearly was having but he wasn't going to wake her.


	10. Arc 1 Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Dreams of the Past and Troubles of the Present

That night Bloom was restless in her sleep she dreamt of a landscape that was too murky like it was underwater, she heard a woman's voice say "Bloom." Soon the landscape changed to that of a city, a great city that was on fire and under siege, the inhabitants running from hordes of monstrous creatures and wicked people, while the those unlucky enough to be caught were cut down as they tried to escape, or dragged off to a gruesome fate which varied, Bloom was like a ghost to the figures in the dreamscape as they ran thru her like she was ghost or they were, the surroundings felt so real, she could see the wrent flags and tapestries of the city, their regalia and coats of a kingdom never seen by her in anything she ever read or saw from looking at books in the library. Suddenly she transformed on instinct into her Charmix and was drawn into a great palace where she saw the very familiar figure of Erasiel who was clad in a fine set of armor and the woman she had seen earlier that day, the two squared off against three shadowy crones, magic came from both sides and suddenly the woman shrieked as if she was being torn from her very core, Erasiel roared in anger and a barrage of spells was loosed by him, the kind of magic and power that was beyond Bloom's wildest dreams and came from various types of magic, suddenly the fight changed venues and she was flying high above the city as Erasiel and the shadows battled it out. Bloom looked at the ground and saw the city, no not just the city but the entire countryside from horizon to horizon turn to a frozen wasteland, then she saw Erasiel tire and suddenly a spell was flung at him and she saw him overwhelmed and saw the force of the impact send him flying uncontrollably into a large spike of ice from a great glacier that formed over the city. "NO! ERASIEL!" Bloom screamed as she saw that the spike had impaled Erasiel in the chest and his figure turned to ash as well as the world around her, and she heard a voice saying "Bloom." That voice grew louder until it shouted, "Bloom wake up!"

Bloom opened her eyes, it was still dark, but she saw three people over her bed side, Flora looking at her with concern, Stella with the same and Erasiel who had been shouting to wake her up. "Good you're awake, you must have been having one heck of a nightmare, you woke me up when you were yelling my name and Flora and Stella were here when I got here" Erasiel stated offering a hand to Bloom who sat up, noted she was still in her Charmix and turned back to normal.

"What happened, I had this horrible nightmare, there was a city on fire, and shadowy figures and monsters and you were there too Erasiel and you died" Bloom stated.

"Well for starters call me Nathan, like I said before Erasiel is a name I reserve for long term acquittances, friends and family, secondly describe in detail what you saw, perhaps talking about it with us will put you more at ease" Erasiel responded, to which Bloom nodded then began to tell him, Stella and Flora in exact details what she saw.

The explanation lasted about half-an hour until Bloom finished leaving Erasiel, Stella and Flora to regard her with confused looks, well some confused, Flora was concerned, and Stella had been half-asleep, while Erasiel regarded Bloom with serious interest and was thinking. "So now what?" Bloom asked.

"Well that should allow you to sleep better now at the least, I'll have to think about what you've seen Bloom, dreams like these aren't natural, they are magical in nature as can be seen by your body's reactions like the fact you were in Charmix form when you woke up, anyway something to think about on my case, anyway try and get some sleep and if this continues tell me everything about it, I'll talk to Faragonda about this: whatever is going on Bloom it has my interest more so than before, I have been only observing you, but now it looks as if I'm now in the position of helping you learn more about yourself, I have my theories but they aren't hardened concrete yet" Erasiel stated then turned to Stella and Flora. "You two head back to sleep, I'll keep an eye on Bloom to see if she goes through any more episodes of this" Erasiel continued, he then lifted Bloom's blanket and tucked her in, gave her a kiss on the forehead and said, "Good Night Bloom" and left the room, Flora and Stella went back to their beds and Bloom eased back to sleep.

Erasiel left the Winx's dorm room and proceeded down the hallway and thru the rest of the school until he found the Headmaster's office and the quarters of Faragonda who slept peacefully, Erasiel walked into the room and turned on the light which woke Faragonda up. "Who is disturbing me in the middle of the night, Griselda you- "Faragonda began to say as Erasiel came into focus. "Erasiel? What are you doing here and at this hour" Faragonda asked.

"Sorry to wake you up my dear wife, but something has come up and it can't wait till morning" Erasiel explained, Faragonda got out of bed revealing her to be in a transparent lavender night-gown with her dark purple nylon stockings which had golden threading along the sides and in the feet, as well as a garter belt which held them on. She stepped over to the nightstand before grabbing her glasses, the purples lenses matching her lavender eyes.

"Alright what is it that is so important Erasiel?" Faragonda asked taking a seat on the nearby couch, Erasiel joined her.

"It concerns Bloom, before you ask no, she and I didn't do each other, this is far more important than that, she had a dream but not a normal dream a vision, she described it in detail" Erasiel explained.

"A Vision what of" Faragonda inquired to which Erasiel could only solemnly look at her, an aura of sadness on his face.

"I'm not so sure, but it sounded like a vision of the past; she described it in detail, I know exactly though what it was, it was the fall of Domino, specifically the fall of the Royal City Sparx and my battle with the Ancestresses, blow by blow" Erasiel responded.

"That is highly unusual indeed, what do you make of it?" Faragonda asked.

"I am not sure, but I have a possible theory, I'm not sure I need more evidence, to test it, in fact I would need to test Bloom to know for sure, is it possible you could arrange a test of some kind" Erasiel responded.

"A test that you oversee, well there is the simulator test, it is coming up in a month from now; perhaps that could be of use for your purpose, however what kind of information do you need?" Faragonda responded.

"Combat information, more specifically I want to push Bloom's powers to her current max potential, to see if my theory is correct, one more thing; do you have any information about Bloom?" Erasiel responded.

"Not much I'm afraid, other than she is the first fairy from Earth in long time, and also one of the most powerful faeries in a long time" Faragonda responded.

"I see, not much to work with, I'll see if I can get more information out of her, though not tomorrow, I have a date tomorrow afternoon; and on top of that I have to meet with Palladium about crafting a suitable test for the simulator, anyway I'll work things out, if anything comes up I'll tell you all about it" Erasiel responded, then kissed Faragonda on her cheek. "Mind if I sleep with you for the evening?" Erasiel asked.

"I have no problems with that not even remotely, however you woke me up and I need to be tired out, I'm sure you can oblige" Faragonda responded with a wink and flirty face, Erasiel was only to keen to oblige, he turned off the light and the two edged into bed, Erasiel removed her night gown and she removed his pajamas, leaving them in their underwear, she wore a purple lace bra and panties with the same golden threading as her stockings which the undergarments matched, these had been woven by Faragonda herself and were made of Arachnorok Spider silk and the gold was actual gold, Erasiel wore his standard orange and purple boxers. "It's been too long" Faragonda stated.

Erasiel stripped her over her undergarments save the stockings, and she in turned relieved him of his boxers, her large EE-cup breasts in full view. "I think we both know how this starts" Erasiel commented.

"Oh, you know me too well" Faragonda stated, then leaned over his head and wrapped her breasts around his length and began to suck on it while moving her breasts up and down.

"Oh yeah" Erasiel moaned, it had been too long indeed since they had last been together and he missed her skills, in the field of oral sex she was at the moment unrivaled, the way she alternated her tongue licking the length one moment and then deepthroating the next, followed by the licking of his testicles, to then lick up the length, all the while alternating his length in and out of her large breasts and grinning. After about five minutes of her oral art he climaxed, she swallowed most of his seed but nice bukkake was left on her face which she licked up.

"Mmm, Sherbet" Faragonda stated licking up of the seed, Erasiel grabbed her and laid her back, then lowered himself to her loins and started to finger her and to lick her. "Oh yes!" Faragonda moaned after 12 seconds of his work. Erasiel too was a master of oral sex, though only with females, his Brother Arantir was experienced in please both men and women in that department, he knew exactly when to take it slow as well as to probe to find the sweet g-spot, only after a bit to suck elsewhere, the sweetness of her honeypot was surreal but common to faeries who tasted sweet in that field. Soon Faragonda reached her limit closing her eyes and moaning as she climaxed, Erasiel licked up the fluids then lifted himself up and entered her tight walls, despite having giving him her virginity eons ago she was still tight in spite of centuries of intercourse. Faragonda moaned as Erasiel entered her, Erasiel then turned to drink from her breasts, fairy milk tasted like strawberry milk with a dash of chocolate thrown in for good measure, Erasiel drank like an infant, as Faragonda moaned. "OH! Such bliss! OH! Erasiel" Faragonda moaned, Erasiel continued drink, as he did so Faragonda's hands slipped under to play with his nipples causing him to moan into her breast. The smooth tempo continued Erasiel alternated breasts and sucked them drinking as much he wanted greedily, eventually he reached his limit and unloaded inside her. Erasiel then kissed Faragonda their tongue dancing as he continued his thrusts and did so until he unloaded again. Erasiel then flipped her over and entered her anus, pulling her back and pulling the covers over them as they continued their lovemaking into the night, the moon the only witness to their lovemaking.

The Following morning Erasiel awoke the smell of Faragonda's perfume in the air along other more sensual smells, he was about to get up when Faragonda who had awakened kept him pinned down, as she had been sleeping on top of him the night before, Erasiel smirked kissed her and stroked his right hand thru her lovely light cyan hair while his left touched her back and lower, then they continued where they had left off the previous night Erasiel thrusting into Faragonda as she rode him, soon pulling her to him so to drink from her breasts. "Oh Erasiel" Faragonda moaned then kiss his forehead, Erasiel continued this for a while.

An hour later... Erasiel had used magic to dress himself into his day clothes, he had realized that he had left his staff in the Winx's dorm-room and soon Kerborg arrived with it, Erasiel then proceeded towards the school library where he proceeded to collect some light reading material, while light as far as he was concerned, the material was about dreams and a number of specific events namely the War of the Ancestresses, also two of the books were his own published accounts of the history of the war; he reviewed the information and examined it further, he was at this a for a few hours and didn't notice when Bloom walked into the Library and sat next to him. "Hey Nathan" Bloom greeted startling Erasiel from his reading, he then recovered. "What are you doing?" Bloom asked.

"Research, like I said last night I would be looking into all matters concerning you, and I have a few theories therefore I am going to do all in my power to find out what is happening to you" Erasiel explained he then asked, "Did you have any more dreams like the one you had last night?"

"Yes, I did have one, the woman from my previous dream I was underwater, and she was facing me as if she was trying to tell me something" Bloom responded.

"Describe her to me" Erasiel responded, and Bloom did as he requested, in detail, then she pulled paper and a pencil out of her bag and paper as well then she began to draw, within a few minutes she had drawn a fairly detailed picture of the woman she saw, and this caused Erasiel noticeable concern. "Daphne" Erasiel thought then wondered, no it couldn't be, could it, well he would have to check and- he looked at his watch "Crap, sorry Bloom we'll talk later I have a date!" Erasiel exclaimed then bolted out his chair and ran off, leaving Bloom confused, however she was interested in the books next to her and began reading the books starting with the one titled "War of the Ancestresses, a Complete history, volume 1, by Erasiel Nathan Darkar".

Erasiel ran down the hallway past the courtyard, where Musa was listening to her music to whom he yelled "HI MUSA! BYE MUSA! OFF TO MAGIX!", he then proceeded to spread his wings and fly off, followed by Kerborg, Musa was absolutely intrigued and transformed to follow him. Erasiel was moving rather fast and Musa struggled to keep up, but she didn't have to for too long as he began his descent towards Magix City and landed on the first empty sidewalk she saw with Musa landing behind him, where he bolted to the nearby park where he found Darcy sitting on a park bench. "Am I late?!" Erasiel asked, to which Darcy laughed.

"Late? (giggling) you're 20 minutes early" Darcy responded. "Hey, I didn't know you were bring Musa with you" Darcy stated noticing Musa behind Erasiel back in civilian form.

"Musa? What are you doing here?" Erasiel asked confused.

"Following you, you were in such a hurry to take off, I thought something serious had come up" Musa responded.

"Oh that, just a lunch date at Hex Café, Darcy and Riven and I had a previous engagement the three of us with Stormy and Icy as chaperones" Erasiel explained.

"Oh, I see" Musa responded.

"Hey, you can come with if you want, I'll buy you lunch, besides you'll love it, Hex café is the best restaurant in town, well in the opinion of me in my sisters, the food there is great, and they have the best smoothies and all the Diet Coke you can drink" Darcy offered and explained.

"Well shoot, I'm up if you're offering, just leave me out of your date, if I'm going to date Nathan it's going to be on my own terms" Musa stated, she was slightly jealous of Darcy, but not overly so, it was open secret Erasiel was a womanizer and Musa wasn't detoured by that fact, it was a known fact that everyone at Alfea and Cloud Tower that he was married to both Faragonda and Griffin, also Musa was drawn to him; especially after he showed so much concern for her friends and he saved their lives from the four-armed minotaur.

Erasiel was quick to stroll thru town with Darcy and Musa at side, he soon ran into Riven who was clad in civilian attire, her usual Red Fountain uniform replaced by purple top similar to Darcy's and skirt like Musa's but with sweets worn underneath, she wore simple Velcro shoes, and had her hair in the same style she wore at the party with the same accessories in her hair. "Hey handsome" Riven said and kissed Erasiel on the cheek and joined them. The party of four then continued, blissfully unaware that they were being followed.

Specifically, they were being stalked by a group of irate specialists which were led by Prince Sky, the real one not Brandon, the group consisted of some of the racers who had lost to Darcy, and some of the toughs that had been humiliated in the brawl at the party, Lucius Leary among them, despite their detentions they still had free movement when School wasn't in session. This mob of Specialists had one thing on their mind, vengeance.

If Magix had a humble but amazing restaurant it was definitely Hex Café, it was called that do to its owner being a former student at Cloud Tower and because discounts were always offered to current and former students, mainly because Witches were the chief customers, most people didn't go near the place due to fear of so many witches in one place. Erasiel was one such person who was not afraid, as long as no Manticores were present he was never afraid, he didn't understand the hard coded fear for witches, yes they did use dark magic, but not all witches were evil just as not all necromancers were evil, or Phoenixes, or dragons, or humans, or any race or group of people for that matter, the fact was some few bad apples spoil the bunch, also dark magic was not adherently evil in fact no magic was adherently evil, it was simply there the raw energy, anyone could use it, in fact all evil done with magic depended on the individual.

Erasiel and company walked in thru the front door of Hex Café, he noted his surroundings and recognized a number of witches from Cloud Tower, including Mirta, but of course the obvious ones were Stormy and Icy who had been waiting for him. "And here you are, the three of you on schedule, hey Musa what are you doing here" Icy greeted.

"Oh that, Darcy offered to buy me lunch" Musa responded keeping her cool, there were a number of glares from other Witches who weren't so keen to have a fairy in their midst.

Stormy noted the glares and shouted "Alright! Listen up because I'm only going to say this once, Musa is our friend, anyone wanting to start trouble with her is starting trouble with me and my sisters, so don't any of you troublemakers forget who are the top of Cloud Tower's classes and popularity ladder!" This caused all those glaring to relent out of fear of Stormy, the Trix despite having become kinder and more restrained from bullying wouldn't hold back to keep their position on popularity structure of Cloud Tower also they absolutely wouldn't tolerate attacks on friends, something which was relatively new for them. "You know what Musa, I think the three of us, you Icy and me should eat out front get some fresh air" Stormy continued, Musa could only nod, besides she didn't like the music inside anyway.

Erasiel sat at a nearby table with Darcy and Riven sitting on either side of him, the witches at other tables regarded him with looks of attraction, something which for the moment he was not going to reply to, he was here on a date with Darcy and Riven and he was not going to let anyone come in between him and his current pursuits.

That something was that which ended up happening, unfortunately he was not going to receive was a peaceful date, especially when a group of irate specialists walked up front, this caught the attention of Icy Stormy and Musa.

"What are you doing here!?" Icy yelled irately at Sky and his group of toughs.

"We're here for business" Sky responded.

"I told you to never show your face around here again, I thought a barrage of Icicles would get the message across to you, you lecherous fiend! you vile tramp! you heartbreaker!" Icy responded, Musa and Stormy had already gotten up from their seats along with a number of other witches who were sitting up front.

"Step aside I'm here for the girl who upstaged me yesterday both girls actually and to put them in their place" Sky stated.

"Come on Brandon knock her aside" one of the Specialists chimed in from the crowd.

"Brandon, so that's the name you're going by now; first you called yourself Darko after childhood friend and now you're calling yourself Brandon, what's next you- "Icy blurted but she was cut off by are mean smack to the face, leaving a red imprint on her cheek. "You slapped me- slapped me! You loved me, broke my heart for that so-called Princess of yours and now you slap me like I'm nothing more a fly to you, you- "Icy moaned out before crying extremely loudly as if she was in horrible agony, Musa ran up and slapped Sky leaving a similar imprint before getting tossed aside like a ragdoll by Sky.

"YOU BASTARD!" Stormy yelled then charged up a lightning bolt in her hands. "YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY SISTER!" Stormy yelled and the bolt of electricity flew from her hands it missed the intended target and hit a wall on the other side of the street. "Come on everyone let's get them, an attack on one witch is an attack on all witches!" Stormy barked and was joined by the other witches who had by this point turned gotten up turned into witch form at the same time as Stormy, Icy had bolted inside to get more witches, and Musa went into her Charmix form.

"Sonic Boom!" Musa casted, and series of soundwaves immitted from her hands shot out towards the attacking specialists and caused some of them to drop down screaming.

"A Fairy fighting for Witches? This is unheard of!" one of the Specialists shouted, and then received a blow from a staff, Erasiel had already heard the commotion and had jumped out of his seat the moment he heard Icy scream, her running inside shouting "An attack on one is an attack on all!" had alerted the others, Darcy and the other witches assumed combat forms and Riven had drawn her saber, Erasiel bolted past Icy into the fray.

The battle commenced in earnest, there were about 50 specialists not counting Sky, and four of them had been dropped by Musa's sonic attack, Erasiel dropped two more with his staff, making sure to break bones, the specialists were run ragged by trying to catch the witches who at this point had gone to air level and were out of reach, at the same time that had to deal with Erasiel and Riven as well as Gripmaw who had joined the fray alongside his master, Kerborg had been sent to Alfea to fetch the Winx. During the ruckus the Magix police showed up and they were inclined to fight alongside the Specialists, something that came from distrust of Witches, Erasiel smirked at their arrival, then clapped his hands and they were dispatched by Dark Elf Assassins that he had shadowing him, this lead to the fight between his Assassins and the police which caused Erasiel to divert the fight into the side streets, where they would have less interference. So far as the fight had pressed on no one had been killed on either side, the police had taken numerous fatalities but that was on the account of a certain uber-elite Dark Elf Assassin group deciding to keep them out of the fight. Darcy used telekinetic energy to lift up several parked vehicles and hurled them in the direction of the Specialists, who panicked and barely dodged the oncoming projectiles this added more considerable property damage, this was followed up by a tornado from Stormy which vacuumed up all the Specialists into on central location and left them surrounded by Witches, Musa, Riven, and one extremely pissed off Phoenix with a more then eager Faceless at his side ready to kill Sky on his say so.

Gripmaw towered over the specialists who lay down pilled in a heap, he stood there punching a fist into the other hand. "Hey Boss what to you want to do with them" Gripmaw asked.

"Gripmaw bring me their leader" Erasiel stated. The Faceless obliged and flew over to collect Prince Sky before he could react, Gripmaw had assumed his true form and this towered over the specialists he cowered in his grip. Gripmaw then held him in front of Erasiel.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what have we here Brandon I assume, if that is your true name, we were introduced yesterday, now I have a proposition for you if you're interested" Erasiel stated, then paused and thought, then continued. "You have put me in an interesting situation, or rather ruined what was going to be a perfectly enjoyable lunch date, yesterday I assumed you were a man of principles, and here you are the following day giving my girlfriend a backhand to the face and flinging another one to the side like she was nothing to you, that wasn't very nice of you was it, anyway you now leave me at a crossroads of what to do, you see this current situation you have found yourself in is quite dangerous" Erasiel stated then sent a telepathic message to Gripmaw, suddenly a purple umbral blade materialized and hardened into a physical form in Gripmaw's previously empty left claw, Gripmaw held that blade to Sky's throat. "You can see the gravity of the situation now can't you" Erasiel stated.

"Yes" Sky stated in fear and gulped, he looked at Erasiel, then at Icy, as well her sisters who along with Musa and Riven had come to Erasiel's side.

"You and your so-called friends or goons as prefer to call them attacked me and my witch associates in broad daylight and then lost the ensuing battle, you know that by rights of war I can kill you all here where you stand or well in this case, lie in a lump on the ground, but you see I'm a gentleman and thus believe in the rules of engagement, now you will wait while I discuss your fate with my associates, in the meantime, Gripmaw!" the Faceless stood or rather floated at attention. "Watch him, if he tries anything: kill him" Erasiel ordered in a stern voice, then turned to Sky. "Now don't do anything you might regret, I'm willing to let you live the matter however in which I let you live is up to debate." Erasiel concluded then strolled over to his associates and they gathered in a circle.

"What's going on here Nathan, last I checked these guys attacked us and now you're going to let them off" Riven asked.

"Not to mention I'm only just friends with you and the Trix at the moment, I'm not exactly so sure about this whole thing what with the police involved" Musa confided.

"Ease off Riven, they aren't off getting easy, and Musa, don't worry; this whole incident as far the public is concerned didn't happen, I've made certain of that, a few coins there and a bit grease there and the problem will be out of the public's eye as if it never happened, here is what I'm going for, making sure these guys get the memo, leave the Faeries of Alfea and the Witches of Cloud Tower alone, and I have the means to do so, now I need to talk to Icy personally" Erasiel responded then took Icy aside. "Darcy make sure Stormy doesn't kill anyone while I'm gone" Erasiel commented, causing the two Witches to be at ease, "Also don't try to trick our associate into killing himself, if he does die it will be of his own volition" Erasiel stated then strolled out of earshot with Icy.

"Alright Icy how bad did he hit you" Erasiel asked.

"Nothing a little cold compress won't deal with, anyway what is it you want to speak with me about" Icy replied.

"What happened between you and him, I heard you yelling before he smacked you" Erasiel inquired, then Icy teared up and told him all about her and "Darko's Relationship" how it was nice at first and then over time he broke her heart claiming that a princess had offered him her hand and he couldn't refuse, the whole thing had happened three months earlier.

"Icy why didn't you tell me or your sisters, or even Griffin about this sooner" Erasiel inquired.

"Because I didn't want to look weak!" Icy Angrily replied, sending a few icicles out of her palms into the air. "I was still an innocent girl who never dated anyone, the only chance at love I had before was taken from me by this arrogant noble, who took the name of the boy I loved before: Darko, a childhood friend of mine, we were friends for years, but his father didn't approve of our relationship, he wanted to marry his son to someone of royal blood, so he did, he married him to some princess from the Kingdom of Ornta within the Empire of Whisperia, Darcy and Stormy had feelings for him too, we were all saddened when he was gone" Icy explained. "Then comes this guy, an attractive blonde, with the same name as the one I love and lost, I thought that maybe I had been given a second chance, another Darko to love, I was wrong, he manipulated me, for all I was worth, like I was his plaything, he never sullied by body though for that I'm grateful, but he did steal my first kiss, the one I intended for someone I really loved, he took my heart and broke it, now here he is again I hope he wasn't telling the truth about that princess of his, because now calling himself Brandon, I know he'll break her heart as well, along with Bloom's heart, and goodness knows what he'll do to her in the future, So that's my sob story all of it" Icy responded, then broke down into tears, Erasiel hugged her and allowed him to rest her head on his shoulder, he rubbed his left hand thru her soft winter-blue-white hair, then put a finger to her lips and hushed.

"It's ok, I'm here for you now Icy, I won't let him hurt you or anyone, for now however I'll level with you, the man the Darko, the Brandon, his real name is Prince Sky of Eraklyion, now he knows he's masquerading as someone else, his Squire no doubt, therefore his friend is not at fault the only one who is at fault is him: Prince Sky, I won't allow him to manipulate you or Bloom, but for now I want him to be in fear, It's best if Bloom finds out who he is for herself in the meantime we have the leverage we need to keep him under control, this whole thing is the perfect Blackmail, I know his true name and if he wants to keep all of his limbs attached he will leave you, Darcy and every Witch at Cloud Tower and Fairy at Alfea alone, his thugs will also and we will give them extra few beatings to make sure they won't" Erasiel explained then kissed her gently and she kissed back holding him tight.

"How do you intend to keep them from talking to Professor Saladin" Icy asked after breaking the kiss.

"They will be shadowed at all times they are at Red Fountain by Dark Elf Assassins, if one of them tries to squeal well they'll end up like old pig-face did, meeting a tragic death at the hands of Beastmen, and strung up from the statue in the courtyard, as for Sky, well then we let all Magix know how much of a wretch he truly is and there will be nothing his Royal Father can do to protect him from the wrath of the scorned masses" Erasiel replied, Icy smiled at his words.

Erasiel returned to the scene where the Specialists were restrained by Witches. He approached Gripmaw who still held a flummoxed and slightly terrified Prince Sky. "I have spoken with my associates, I have terms that you will accept or you will die, here are my terms: have your thugs stay away from the Faeries of Alfea and the Cloud Tower Witches, I don't want their scum anywhere near those lovely beings, you will keep quiet about this whole affair, this battle never happened, in exchange I am willing to keep your true identity a secret and allow you and you friend to continue to date Bloom and Stella, however know this, don't even think about telling anyone about this, I have eyes and ears watching everywhere, one step out of line and like my Faceless servant they will gladly kill you and unlike my Faceless Friend they aren't merciful in dealing death, it won't be quick, it will be slow and agonizing, and you'll be left to the Ungors of the Beastmen to do with you as they see fit and you know how spiteful and vicious they can be" Erasiel explained. "Do I make myself clear?" he asked.

"Crystal sir" Sky responded.

"Good Gripmaw release him" Erasiel ordered, and the faceless dropped him on the ground flat on his back. Sky groaned in pain, his bruises were added to when Erasiel simply trod over him. Erasiel turned to face the other specialists. "Not one word of what happened today is to be told to anyone, any attempts to do so will result in that person ending up like pig-face did last week understand?" Erasiel explained, the specialists nodded in fear. "Good, Ladies proceed to give them another set of beatings just to make sure the point is made" Erasiel ordered and the witches were quick to oblige, it was rather painful for them, even more so for those who resisted, Stormy was especially wrathful and broke the hands of many of them.

Shortly the crowd had dispersed leaving Erasiel alone with Musa, Riven, and the Trix. "I'm surprised that you let him off that easy" Icy commented.

"Yah I totally would have castrated that bastard for what he did to my sister" Stormy responded.

"That would be a mistake, far better to let him live and learn that if he crosses us again that I won't just beat him, I will humiliate him, I will look past the incident however I won't save him from his own stupidity again" Erasiel stated.

"Well hopefully no one will find out about this incident, I don't want to look bad to anyone" Musa stated.

"Once again Musa no one will know about this incident, anyone who tries to reveal it to the public will be silenced before he has the chance, this was self-defense, we won the first fight in defeating them in battle, and by their punishment have prevented future fights, Anyway Musa I'm thankful for you helping us" Erasiel

"Yeah thanks for sticking up for my sister" Stormy stated giving a Musa a friendly hug and a friendly punch in the shoulder.

"Your welcome, anything for my friends, you know when we first met I wasn't so sure I could trust you three, but now you have grown on me" Musa responded.

"Musa keep quiet about this incident, I know you would like to warn Bloom about her boyfriend, but you'd then have to explain the whole thing, and I worry Bloom won't believe you, it's best for her to find out for herself" Erasiel followed up.

"I get it, and you're right I've only known Bloom for a few days, now and I don't want to risk our friendship by telling her about the whole thing" Musa replied, then to Erasiel's shock she kissed him on the lips. "That is for saving my life and because you've earned it" Musa explained. "See you around, by the way I'm more then open to dating you, here's my number by the way you are an amazing dancer" Musa stated, handing him her cellphone number then leaving.

Erasiel, the Trix, and Riven left and headed back to Hex Café, where Musa was waiting for them. "I'm still up for lunch you know" Musa stated, and they laughed and then sat down back at Erasiel's table.


	11. Arc 1 Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Simulation and Bloom's Test

A month passed, during this time Erasiel had continued teaching the Trix more on the subjects of advanced magic and how to utilize the Dragon Flame, he also during this period had gone on several dates, mainly with Flora, Musa, and Tecna, but also with Riven and Trix this kept him on his toes and allowed him more time to build a relationship, he was focused however on Tecna; but he hadn't forgotten Bloom, Musa was good on her word not telling her about Sky and the two continued to date. In fact, that was the reason he and Darcy were now at Alfea, to help Professor Palladium put the finishing touches on the simulation designed to test Bloom's powers and confirm if she was who he thought she was beyond a shadow of the doubt. Though day by day his suspicion leaned further to the truth as Bloom's visions multiplied and became clearer and more vivid, also she had made more drawings of what she had seen, and these further confirmed his suspicions, now all that was needed for Bloom to fully awaken her magical potential.

"Professor Palladium how has the work on the simulation progressed" Erasiel asked the Elf, he had pointy ears, dark colored eyes, long dark orange hair, his bangs split in the middle and swapped to each side. His build was skinny and as graceful as you would expect in an elf, strong but agile, and he wore a pale yellow long sleeved puffy collared shirt, with a red bow, a dark olive collared vest, light brown pants and shoes with red above-ankle socks. Palladium was a Wood Elf, from the Elven Kingdom of Goldenwood on Magix and had been on the staff for centuries, he was the school's teacher about the subject of magical creatures, but also the school's non-magic combat instructor, he had on Erasiel's request given Bloom an education in sword-fighting a skill that Erasiel knew she would need in the future, if his suspicions were confirmed and she was indeed the Princess of Domino then she would need to know how to wield a sword if she was to use her father's blade.

"I have done the most that I can, the simulation is rather effective, a combat simulation that has progressively harder levels of enemies, Bloom will have to face wave after wave of opponents to draw out her magical power and to heighten her awareness, on top of this she will have to survive the hazards on numerous environments" Palladium explained.

"Excellent, now there are two things, I trust you will be grading Bloom on the standards Faragonda and I outlined with regards to this test, also there are some adjustments I would like to make, this is why I brought Cloud Tower's resident tech expert Darcy Trix with me" Erasiel responded.

"Yes, Indeed I will be grading Bloom on the standards outlined, defeating wave 10 warrants a B, defeating wave 20 an A-, Wave 30 an A, and anything higher then wave 40 an A+, As to your adjustments would you explain them to me" Palladium responded.

"The adjustments I would like to make are simple, Darcy if you would be kind to explain for me" Erasiel stated, then Darcy walked forward with a specialized device.

"The first adjustment will be this device here, it will allow a measurement of the power output by Bloom and any other student using the simulator we will also be tracking Bloom's power output at Cloud Tower via my sisters vacuums, the following adjustments apply solely to Bloom; for starters each wave after the first 10 will not be AI controlled but controlled by me and my sisters remotely, secondly we will increase the difficulty for every five waves, the final touch is a well an endgame boss if you will forgive my game terminology, my sisters and I will face Bloom as the final challenge should she manage to beat all the other waves, All opponents will vary in ability and power, from the simple group of Goblins to mighty Dragons, to wizards and warlocks, then of course at the end three senior witches from Cloud Tower boosted to max stats within the engine, hopefully the results of the testing will show how powerful Bloom is at the moment and predict how powerful in the future she can become" Darcy explained.

"I see, well is there a risk to you and your sisters entering the Simulator" Palladium asked.

"No, I've already figured that out with these" Darcy explained then pulled a wax doll out of her pocket, the doll resembled Darcy flawlessly. "This is a shadow Doll, it allows me and my sisters to project ourselves into any location as if we were actually there, it applies to the simulation, we can channel our power thru these and they will use our abilities, Bloom will face identical copies of us, the copies will look exactly like us with maximum abilities provided by the simulation but will not be actually us" Darcy explained.

"I see, then there is absolutely no risk to you or your sisters" Palladium responded.

"Yes, now do I have your approval to make the necessary modifications?" Darcy asked.

"Indeed, go right ahead" Palladium stated, then Darcy began to modify the programing doing her magic, the process took a matter of ten minutes to make the necessary modifications, then she brought out a laptop which she interfaced into the main computer, allowing her a remote uplink which allowed her to control the simulation's enemies as well as the environments, she also hooked up the device for measuring power output, in 30 minutes she had finished her work.

"Done, everything is in place for Bloom's test, it should all be in working order, in fact I know it is because I triple checked my work" Darcy explained.

"Excellent Darcy, I will monitor the testing here, head back to Cloud Tower and wait for that actual testing to commence, you are free to do whatever you want to do until then" Erasiel stated, Darcy walked out. "If you will excuse me Palladium I have important matters to tend to, I'll see you when the testing is ready" Erasiel stated then departed.

The important matters in question involved him and Flora sitting on a bench in courtyard making out, before discussing stuff with her. "So, Flora how have you been lately" Erasiel stated, his face covered with her lipstick.

"Pretty Good actually, don't forget about our date tonight" Flora stated.

"I won't sweetie" Erasiel stated, then wrapped his arm around her holding her close to him, she held his hands with her own.

"I love it when you call me sweet" Flora stated.

"That's because you are Flora, how's school doing" Erasiel stated.

"Well I have a project I'm working on" Flora stated.

"Need help with it?" Erasiel asked.

"We'll see, come by my Dorm tomorrow, there aren't any classes tomorrow, but I have to get my project done, it's due soon" Flora replied.

"I'll be glad to, also what subject is it?" Erasiel asked.

"Alchemy believe it or not, it's not my best subject and Professor Gelt gave me this project to make up for failing other assignments" Flora stated.

"Well it shouldn't be too difficult, I can help with that easy, and that's what friends are for, also that's why boyfriends are for" Erasiel stated, and Flora laughed, a sweet laugh, like that of forest nymphs or elves.

"I have to go, the simulator testing will be starting soon, and I can't be late" Flora stated, looking at her watch.

"I'm going with, I'll be observing the tests" Erasiel explained, but before Flora could get up, he pulled her into another kiss and a hug, this was a relationship he was happy with; however, he wasn't going to rush Flora into any major commitments, he wanted to take this relationship at the pace she wanted to take it.

They quickly departed and arrived at the simulator where numerous Students were gathered outside along with Palladium and Faragonda. "Welcome students to the Simulator, today is Mid-term testing for the semester, here each student will proceed to take the tests, these are varied depending on the student, the simulator is capable of simulating various scenarios and locations, there are few things this isn't capable of" Palladium explained.

"Is it capable of simulating virtual dates" Stella joked, the girl next to her by the name of Anastacia who had brown honey hair that came to her shoulders. She wore a blue dress with cuts on the left shoulder and a red belt and brown and white shoes as well as blue eyeshadow, commented "I might finally get one!" this caused the crowd to break out in laughter.

"You know if you really want a date Anastacia you should try dating Erasiel" Musa commented, this elicited more laughter.

"Enough Students this is serious, this is your mid-term exam, fail it and your grades will be near irreparable for the rest of the semester" Faragonda stated, and everyone fell back in line.

"Thank you Headmistress, now the testing will begin in alphabetical order, each student will come forward as I call their name, the simulator has numerous rooms, 25 to be exact, each student will come forward when I call their name: the starting 25 will be Ahisa, Anastacia, Alyssa, Amaryl, Arabel, Ariadne, Audrey, Bloom… " Palladium stated, his list went on further but focus was on Bloom, something which was a surprise, as there other people above her in the name list who's name started with B, but she had been first followed by regular order, anyway Bloom wasn't given much time, she followed Anastacia who had been standing by her and Stella, and she went into the Simulator, Erasiel to her surprise was waiting inside.

"What are you doing here?" Bloom asked Erasiel

"I'm here to monitor your testing, just in case you have one of your well episodes, also I have a suspicion and if you succeed in your testing you might confirm it, in fact it may answer a lot of questions for you" Erasiel replied, Bloom was confused, but she assumed he meant those related to the dreams she had been having.

Bloom walked past Erasiel and proceeded to the nearest open simulator room, she then put on a suit designed for interfacing inside the virtual world of the simulator, she finally put on VR headset and within her eyes flashed with digital data, to reveal a grassy plain on a cloudy day. To Bloom's surprise Darcy was there in her witch form. "Welcome Bloom to your test, this simulation has been specially crafted by me and Professor Palladium, this will be the test of your abilities, the simulation is designed to bring out your true magical potential, there will be 100 waves of enemies, each progressively harder, the first 10 waves will be AI controlled, further waves will be controlled remotely by yours truly and my sisters, defeat 50 waves and above for the highest grade, defeat the challenge as a whole and you will receive bonus points that will count for extra credit, your success is dependent on your skill, also don't worry about time your test isn't timed only dependent on how many opponents you defeat, the environments will change depending on the opponent, also you will be facing the environment itself as a hazard or an advantage provided you know how to use it, defeat all waves and there will be a final boss fight, you will be facing the hardest challenge you could possibly face with regard to this simulation, know this, outside this simulator I am your friend, in here I am your enemy and I will try my best to destroy you" Darcy explained, then she summoned Bloom's first opponents and vanished.

Bloom faced her enemies, she noted that they were Goblins with spears, they let out their battle cry, Bloom transformed into Charmix and began to unleash fireballs, flying out of the reach of her opponents, the Goblins were quickly defeated and soon the next wave appeared and they were replaced by an angry mob of peasants, she made quick work of the peasant mob, and they were replaced other opponents, she cleared wave after wave, orcs, trolls, knights, wizards, shaman, barbarians, troglodytes, lions, tigers, bears, ogres, warlocks, necromancers, undead skeletons, zombies, ghouls, Ghuls, imps, fiends, horned demons, lizardmen, a hydra, dragon, a Tendral (a two-head Dragon), a manticore, and so on, numerous monsters, the first 10 waves were relativity simple with later waves being much harder progressively as the Trix who were controlling the opponents employed different strategies, some fights Bloom was without her magic and had use weapons provided by the challenges, also she had to make use of terrain, after each 5 waves she was allowed to rest at a safe room, which allowed her regain HP, during these fights her health was monitored by a HP bar, as the waves progressed the amount of healing supplies she got were limited, however she was allowed upgrade herself with equipment, the whole simulation functioned like a video game, however it was far too realistic wounds she took blead like they would in real life and she had to use potions constantly. She was congratulated by Darcy when she reached Wave 51, and she had passed the test, however she soldiered on, Darcy had constantly taunted her throughout the test and Bloom was determined to prove she was more than capable of finishing the whole simulation, it didn't help when Stormy and Icy were also taunting which made her angrier, she was aware that this was a just a test and the Trix were just the DMs of this simulated game, but she her annoyance with Trix at the present mirrored a version of herself in another universe where Erasiel didn't exist and the Trix were her enemies.

Bloom soldiered on, each wave becoming harder, the environments more fantastical, eventually however she had gotten to wave 100 where she battled a 7 headed Dragon, also known as a Waylor, after a titanic clash she slew the monstrosity and she expected the simulation to end, instead, she was faced by a frozen hellscape, the place she recognized from her dreams, it was Domino, then she heard it: clapping.

"Excellent Bloom, you have come far, you have defeated every challenge we could throw at you and not only have won, you have triumphed" Darcy stated applauding, Bloom turned to face Darcy and realized she wasn't alone, Icy and Stormy were with her and like Darcy were in their combat forms though these were slightly different the usual suits were replaced by orange ones and they wore masks.

"I've defeated all your challenges, all your warriors, all your monsters, everything, all 100 waves, now why isn't this over and why am I here" Bloom responded.

"Why are you here, well this is the final challenge the boss fight at the end of the dungeon, take a look Bloom, behold the world of Domino, once glorious and one of the mightiest kingdoms in the Magic Dimension, now a frozen wasteland, brought low the by an ancient evil, the Ancestral Witches, our ancestors, now here you will face your final challenge" Darcy stated and assumed a combat stance.

"Us" Stormy stated, charging a lightning bolt.

"The Trix, we are your final test Bloom, you'll need to use all your power to defeat us!" Icy stated readying ice darts.

"Show us your true power Bloom, you'll need it, we aren't holding back in here, our powers are beyond those we would use outside this simulation for the purposes of this test, here we are as powerful as the Ancestresses" Darcy stated then sent a cascade of shadow energy in the form of a Penumbral Pendulum, Bloom dodged out of the way and responded with a fireball, Bloom's attack was easily blocked by a wall of Ice, here Bloom realized she was playing with the big girls now and would have to up her game to stay alive, well in the simulation that is. Bloom then began to unleash more advanced spells these put the Trix on the defensive but not for long as they began to develop more effective counters, Bloom had to resort to dodging the Trix's attacks her equipment though max level would only offer so much protection, and the Trix's magic was very strong and they were not pulling any punches, they were literally out for blood at this point and Bloom was getting hard pressed, her attacks could only do so much before she was overwhelmed however before the Trix could finish her she was protected by a powerful barrier, something Bloom hadn't know she had in her and wasn't something she did.

The Landscape changed, and Bloom was inside her mind, a white plain and a figure standing in front of her, she recognized her as the woman who had appeared in her dreams. "Bloom awaken, you are of the blood of Dragon, you wield the Dragon Flame, rise Bloom, feel your strength unleash your true power, don't let your emotions cloud your mind let go, unleash Bloom, unleash the Flame!" the Woman told Bloom, and soon reality shifted, and she was behind the barrier which soon gave way and she dodged out of the way, then she saw something that horrified her, Darcy holding Keko above the ground.

"You have been holding back Bloom, we know you are better than this, if we have to resort to driving your magic potential out of you with sheer anger then we will!" Darcy stated, then dropped Keko to the ground below Bloom rushed to grab him, caught him and put him on a rock outcropping, only to receive a combined attack from the Trix, Bloom was beyond angry at this point she had gone berserk her eyes glew with fire to the point that they were literally burning orange coals, the attacks redirected by a great wall of Fire which the Trix dodged, Bloom's fairy form was transformed into an avatar of Fire, and a great Dragon surged forward and the Trix were battered by it, their eyes glew red as they focused a powerful spell, but this was too late, Bloom sent a tsunami of flame as she wrapped the Trix in a vortex, they were literally disintegrated, at Cloud Tower the Shadow Dolls that the Trix were using to control themselves in the simulation melted into hot wax, which burned them before falling to the ground they quickly healed their wounds and measured the power with the Vacuums which shined red with the amount of energy, the readings were absurd, near Erasiel levels of absurd but not that high, but extremely powerful, and they recognized the power as that of the Dragon Flame. "Incredible, she has the Dragon Flame, that can only mean one thing" Darcy stated.

"That she is the lost Princess of Domino" Icy stated.

In the simulation Bloom returned to her normal Fairy form, then looked at Keko who smiled then faded into digital glyphs, along with the rest of Domino as the world faded. She found herself in the simulator room, and left out the door, allowing Kimmie to take her place, she was surprised it took her so long to finish testing that they were now on students whose name began with K, she walked out and found Erasiel. "Come with me Bloom, we need to talk, and I need to show you something, I've finally figured out who you really are" Erasiel explained, Bloom was confused but followed him anyway, he led her out of the simulator into the courtyard, where he took off, Bloom assumed Charmix and followed him.

Erasiel lead Bloom to a placid lakeshore, it was one of the two lakes near Alfea and the larger of the two, Lake Roccaluchee. "Approach the shoreline" Erasiel ordered, and Bloom complied. "Close your Eyes" he said, she closed them, "Reach out" she outstretched her hands "With Mind and body" she reached out with her mind, "at last wake up" Erasiel stated, she came to full alert.

"Now what?" Bloom asked to which Erasiel replied by tapping his staff on the shoreline, suddenly an ethereal figure appeared, a figure Bloom knew well at this point. "Who are you?" Bloom asked.

"Bloom, you have come, and you have awoken your powers, Bloom I am Daphne, Nymph of Sirenix and I am your sister" Daphne stated.

"My sister how?" Bloom asked.

"I had my suspicions at first Bloom, but your test in the Simulator confirmed them, and now I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, you are Bloom, daughter of King Oritel and Queen Marion of Domino and the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Domino" Erasiel explained.

"Wait I'm a princess, no this can't be how?!" Bloom stated.

"You are my sister Bloom, I can see it in your face, your eyes, those eyes of our father, I know you well, I nursed you when you were an infant as mother and father were away at war, Erasiel my betrothed and me took care of you when they weren't able to tend to you" Daphne explained further.

"How I am a Princess and how did I end up on Earth?" Bloom asked her confusion mounting.

"You were sent there for safety, the Ancestresses invaded Domino, they bypassed our defenses and attacked the Royal city of Sparx, we were left with only the option of leaving, during the escape we were cut off from the portal room by Mordan, the monstrous foot soldiers of the Ancestresses' army, Erasiel broke thru them but it was too late, the Ancestresses blocked our path, we sent you to Earth for your safety, it was the only place on short notice the Ancestresses wouldn't look, after we sent thru the portal to Earth we were attacked by the Ancestresses they turned me into what I am now, I can't leave the Lake, I'm glad to see you're still alive, reclaim your birthright and rule justly, and if you can find Mother and Father" Daphne explained, she then strolled up to Bloom and kissed her. "I love you my dear sister" Daphne stated hugged her which felt solid to Bloom as if she was a normal person, then she faded beneath the surface of the lake.

"So now what?" Bloom asked Erasiel.

"We- "Erasiel started to say when a pair of forest goblins snatched his staff and ran off with it laughing. "We get my staff back, come back here you thieving gretchins!" Erasiel yelled then ran off leaving Bloom behind laughing.

Daphne appeared again "Well my dear sister, you continue your education at Alfea and gather strength one day you'll be able to claim your birthright, Erasiel will teach you more about your past among other things" Daphne explained then joined her sister in laughing, in the background Erasiel chased the Goblins who were running faster than a jackrabbit running from a pack of coyotes laughing like maniacs.


	12. Arc 1 Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Miss Magix Contest

A new day dawned which Erasiel of course was up early surprisingly, he watched the dawn itself rise, he had plans for the day, most of them involved women, also he was not alone, in fact the reason he woke up this early was to get the Trix some early morning practice to keep them on their A game for the rest of day. The practice in question involved the Trix barraging forest goblins and Beastmen with their magic: Erasiel of course this time had his staff firmly in his grip so that none of the Gobbos could get their sneaky little hands on it, they would have had to climb to the top of Cloud Tower to reach it anyway.

In his mind Erasiel was making observations on the Trix's performance but he had some other things on his mind, the most foremost of them being Bloom's true origins and parentage. He endeavored to give Bloom information as it was relevant regarding her parents; he had no desire to tell her everything at once nor did he want to for risk of her getting herself killed, something which he had explicitly promised her parents he would do above all else, even to the point of sacrificing his own life for her if he had to. "Excellent work ladies, you've done well for today, now go and prep yourselves for your classes I have somethings that I need to tend to" Erasiel stated, the Trix complied and teleported back into Cloud Tower, Erasiel studied their handiwork and the amount of dead, fried, dismembered or frozen solid Goblins and Beastmen was rather large, however he hoped it wouldn't deter said Beastmen and Goblins from fighting in that particular part of the forest again.

On the subject of personal business his time at Cloud Tower had given him no shortage of the ability to pursue his favorite pass time; women. Erasiel listed off in his head the number of relationships he had going at the moment, the number around 50 currently, of the relationships those that had become intimate not counting Griffin, Zarathusa and Eritrude, numbered 6 and these were as followed: Endora, Polly, Nimeria, Pulisatilla, Shilly, and Mirta. The most active of these being Mirta and Endora, as these two were the most focused in their schoolwork and usually had a lot of free time. Like Mirta, Endora was a senior witch and was two months younger then Mirta, she was the Witch of Undersea Monsters and her magic involved the control of underwater creatures also allowing her water magic and the ability to transfigure herself to adept some of the natural aspects of the many monstrous beasts of the ocean, she was young with figure similar to Mirta's and those of the Trix sisters, she also had dark red hair of an exotic style in which she always wore a hairband and light blue eyes, she preferred dark outfits, and her basic outfit consisted of sleeveless blouse with a cape like collar and a long skirt, these were the colors of sea blue and coral.

Later in the day Erasiel found Endora and the two of them managed to find a place for their fun in her dorm which conveniently for them her roommates, Shilly and Samantha were busy with detention, mainly due to an incident earlier in Zarathusa's class on transfiguration, transmographication and alteration, this had involved a set of frog potions that they had smuggled in from Professor Igor "Bittersmoke" Vartonav's Alchemy class, one of which they used to replace an important potion used for the day's lesson causing said potion to turn said Professor and Death Wizard into a frog for the rest of the day.

Regardless of the situation Erasiel never looked a gift horse in the mouth, even though they could have had with Shilly present she might even have wanted to join in, they had done that the past, but they would have their fun none the less. "Oh Nathan" Endora moaned into a pillow, Erasiel was currently thrusting back and forth into her butt, he had his hands on her ample D-cup breasts, which he soon used to pull her backward, her entire back pressed against his chest and he used his hands to massage her breasts, well one for the moment as he used the other to pull Endora into a kiss, their tongues battling for dominance, Erasiel enjoyed Endora and had given her some private tutoring sessions on more than just the art on pleasure he had educated her in some of the more potent spells and during this found that she previously unknown to her had the ability to use necromancy, this was something he intended to use to his advantage having her practice on the bodies of dead Beastmen and Goblins from the Trix's training sessions. Currently however he found himself enjoying her more enjoyable talents, her abilities in this field being natural due to his experience, Erasiel's number one defining trait was his nymphomania. The thrusting into her ass could only last so long before he orgasmed and filled her with his white gift, Erasiel could control whether he produced children or not due to a naturel Phoenix trait, this feature was made to make sure that he didn't have to make someone have children without their consent. He pulled out of Endora's rear and she turned around and lowered herself further kissing his chest downward until she came to his still erect phallus and proceeded to do her work, she was relatively good at preforming feliatio on him and he enjoyed her blowjobs, his enjoyment was further cemented when she engulfed his phallus in her ample breasts and proceeded to move up and down on it her fingers however massages his nipples something he enjoyed very much and something he had everyone do. "You are so good Endora, I really mean it Erasiel stated then leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead, Erasiel was far too happy at the moment to think of much else, as he laid back and enjoyed Endora's skill, 10 minutes later he orgasmed again leaving a nice bukkake all over Endora's face and breasts which she soon cleaned with her tongue, Phoenix sperm tasted like the sweetest thing a person ever tasted; he then proceed to lay her down and begin to plant kisses on her like she had done to him before coming down to her vagina where he put his tongue to use, his hands playing with Endora's breasts, she moaned his name in pleasure, her moans interspersed with requests to do up his pleasure, right hand moved to her hair. Soon he tired of using his tongue and moved to main show locking his loins in hers as he suckled on of her breasts like a babe, he drink from her milk as she lactated at his sucking, soon he alternated, Endora continued to moan his hands moved thru her elaborately styled hair, the pleasure she was experiencing was better than anything she could ever dream of. She had been a virgin when they first did the deed, something that all the girls at Cloud Tower he had done so far were though he had expected Pulisatilla, Nimeria and Shilly not to be what with their constant flirting but apparently they had just been toying with the Specialists for amusement and personal gain instead of actually doing them, despite her previous encounters with him she was still rather tight, though not as tight as Mirta, Endora wasn't completely naked either as she wore nylon stockings and a garter belt that he had gifted her amongst other things. He soon had drunk his fill of her milk then moved to kiss her romantically, not a French kiss just lip-locking, his arms wrapped around her back and hands on her bum, he drew her close to him. Then soon he released he got up Endora pressed against his back, he turned to her then picked her up and entered her again, his hands clenching her rump tightly so as not to drop her, they made out passionately. Soon a half-hour later they were done.

"That was an enjoyable experience, I have no regrets, I still love you and you keep giving me reason to" Endora stated, putting her underwear on.

"It's my enjoyment to serve, shame Shilly was in detention we could have had another threesome" Erasiel stated, Endora giggled at that, they had one the previous Saturday and Erasiel had left them both creamed and passed out, though Erasiel did clean them off, before wrapping their blanket around them and passing out with both in his grip.

"I know shame, I told her that I intended to have some fun with you later today but no Shilly decided to go through with her silly prank anyway, anyway see you later Nathan" Endora replied, Erasiel gave her a goodbye kiss slapped her left butt-cheek and she did the same to him then he left the room.

Erasiel had only taken one turn from the hallway when he ran into Mirta, in her usual attire. "Nathan, good to see you, I was looking for you we need to talk" Mirta greeted.

"What about, if this is about our relationship don't worry I think I can find somewhere private for us to- "Erasiel stated but Mirta cut him off.

"No, it isn't about our relationship, I need your help, it's about Lucy, she hasn't been herself lately and she had gotten more depressed, I can't seem to get her out of her stupor I'm worried she'll hurt herself" Mirta stated worriedly.

"Don't worry Mirta, I'm on the case, any reason though you're asking me to do this, you're her best friend after all" Erasiel stated.

"I know but I've done my best to try and cheer her up, also I have to go, my mother wanted me to go to lunch with her and I can't disappoint her" Mirta responded.

"Alright I'll see what I can do, I'll do whatever it takes, also if anything happens I'll be sure to tell you about it, in fact Lucy will probably tell you about it" Erasiel responded, then left Mirta darted down the hallway, ran into Nimeria gave her a kiss then continued on his way until he came to Lucy and Mirta's room. He entered the room and found Lucy, crying into her pillow.

Lucy was unattractive though not ugly in Erasiel's opinion, with an elongated face and sharp, angular features. She had a thin, bony figure and stooped shoulders though she wasn't gaunt by any means. Her eyes were a pale green. Her jagged, dark green hair fell to her waist and her uneven bangs hung pass her eyes in places. She wore an off-white tank top that revealed her midriff and a checkered green-and-purple miniskirt with a belt over green tights, as well as red fingerless gloves that cover most of her forearms. She also wore violet military-style boots and she was currently crying with a degree of grief that would have rivaled a young child who had just lost their father and didn't understand why they were being buried. "Lucy" Erasiel stated, then nudged her shoulder she turned to face him stood up then continued sobbing, he pulled her into a hug and allowed her cry on his shoulder and comforted her, he noted her room to look for signs off what had caused her so much distress and found a flyer advertising the Miss Magix competition.

"Lucy is this all about a competition, look I know it's a beauty pageant, you not ugly, you are lovely" Erasiel stated.

"No, I'm not" Lucy sobbed out in her slightly nasally voice.

"Look I think I can do something for you, first off stop crying and listen" Erasiel stated, Lucy controlled herself and suppressed her crying, the two of them sat down on her bedside next to each other, soon she was ready to talk.

"What can you do? I'm hideous everyone mocks me when I go out in public or just looks at me like I'm a freak, only Mirta treats me like a normal person" Lucy said Erasiel placed his arm on her shoulder then patted her.

"I can do something about this, perhaps if you were to enter the Miss Magix contest and win it you would show all the people in Magix your true beauty and talent" Erasiel stated.

"But how can I do that, I'm not exactly a beauty queen" Lucy asked.

"I can use magic to modify your appearance, none of the people know you because they ignore you or look down on you, I can arrange for you to win and give you a few aces in the hole if you know what I mean" Erasiel explained.

"You'd do that for me?" Lucy responded she slightly smiled and seemed genuinely excited by the prospect.

"Of course, I would for a friend of Mirta's, also I can make your transformation permanent if you want to, all I ask in return is that you cheer up and well I can also offer myself as your boyfriend" Erasiel stated.

"You really, wow, you know to be honest you're the first guy to ever offer to become my boyfriend let alone talk to me, I'll do it!" Lucy responded excited and absolutely happy.

"Also, I happen to have it on good information from a little bird of mine, or should I say Faceless, that Stella the Princess of Solaria from Alfea and the Winx's Resident Light Fairy has decided to skip school to attend this pageant hoping to win, this is perfect chance to humble her, beat her at her own game and show off that Cloud Tower Girls are the best on Magix" Erasiel explained, they then shook hands as if sealing a business contract.

"Alright Lucy first things first I need you to sit down" Erasiel stated and Lucy complied, Erasiel took out his dagger, this blade was made of the finest Relix it had a black and purple color to it, the blade itself was in the style of a Falchion, it had been a gift from his father for his tenth birthday and had interesting enchant that it would always hit where he wanted it to if he threw it. "Now open your hand, I need some of your blood to make the ritual work properly" Erasiel explained, Lucy outstretched her hand and Erasiel cut a graceful and small cut into the palm of her hand, allowing blood to flow onto the blade of the dagger, he then took his finger and took a tear from his eye and then placed it over the cut which healed instantly. "Phoenix tears have healing powers" Erasiel explained quickly, he then went over to a cauldron filled it with water and dripped the blood in, he also pulled out a satchel from his side and put a number of ingredients into the cauldron followed by drawing his dagger again to draw blood from his own hand then began to chant in his own language, the incantation was unintelligible to Lucy and would have been to anyone who didn't know the language, within a few minutes the cauldron boiled, and the potion was ready.

Erasiel placed a phial into the mixture and handed it to Lucy. "Drink up, it may not taste the best and you may experience a brief tingling and stinging sensation, but you'll be happy with results. Lucy complied and downed the whole phial. What followed was Lucy in a deal of pain as her features began to change, the whole transformation lasted a minute but soon the pain stopped. "Well now see for yourself how well this worked, I made sure to put a drop of my own blood in there to make sure the effects are both permanent and natural, no one should be able to tell the difference apart from Mirta" Erasiel explained and handed Lucy a mirror which she looked at with haste. Lucy studied herself and saw what Erasiel already saw, she was a different Lucy from the Lucy who had just drank the potion, her hair had become longer, smoother, with chicly cut bangs, all while retaining its green color. Her face had become beautiful-matching the other students at Cloud Tower and Alfea and even surpassing some in beauty. Her eyes were now blue under a thick fringe of lashes of the same length as Erasiel own natural eyelashes that many girls and women would kill for, her figure had become well, busty, with F-cup breasts, and was athletically slender with curves in all the right places, her hands had become graceful, she now was an entirely different person.

"Thank you!" Lucy stated pulling Erasiel into a tight hug and giving him sloppy but tender kiss on the lips, Erasiel then broke from her grip, her voice had changed as well and was more refined and like Bloom's or Darcy's.

"See I told you so now you are an entirely different person" Erasiel stated.

"Ok I can't possibly lose now" Lucy stated.

"Perhaps but we are going to need to level the playing field, do you have any unique talents?" Erasiel questioned.

"I am a graceful dancer, probably even more so with this new body and a professional ballet dancer, other than that I'm good at acrobatics" Lucy answered.

"Good now let see about other things, I think first thing first we need to replace the judges, I think I know the right witches for the job of judges" Erasiel responded.

"The Trix?" Lucy asked and Erasiel nodded.

"Who else, they are perfectly qualified and if they are the judges they aren't competing which is better for you, also it makes the whole thing a bit more interesting doesn't it" Erasiel stated.

"Won't people get suspicious? Three of Cloud Tower's students judged a competition wouldn't someone think they're biased" Lucy asked.

"Don't worry with the right amount of grease I can make sure the official in charge of the competition won't lift a finger to stop me, I can definitely make it worth his/her while" Erasiel stated.

"What about the actual judges" Lucy stated.

"Trust me I have ways of making sure the Trix get into the position, just allow me to take care of it, now get yourself ready for the show make sure you have all the stuff you need, dancer's outfit, swimsuit of the brand specified by the competition's guidelines, whatever you need for your performance, just make sure you're there 30 minutes before the competition starts" Erasiel stated, he then kissed her on the cheek and left her to her devices.

Erasiel pulled out his phone and dialed Mirta's number, she answered on the second ring, and he said "Hey Mirta, I've managed to cheer Lucy up, she'll fill you in on the details when she gets back, just letting you know we're going somewhere to cheer her up we won't be back for a while" Erasiel explained, Mirta then thanked him for his help, and he hung up.

Erasiel darted down the hallway getting in touch with his Faceless Spies to ask them to find the judges for the competition and get them away from the place that it was being hosted, after they had done this he asked for detailed descriptions of the Judges appearances. Erasiel who had gotten outside the Trix's dorm pulled out his phone to make a private call. "Hello Lethos, yes it's me I've got a job, I need you to do a few hits for me, get me a good team of assassins" Erasiel stated, Lethos then asked questions. "The targets, well the judges of the Miss Magix beauty pageant" he responded to the first question. "Good you don't need to know why, No nothing too pricey but a quality team of Assassins" Erasiel responded. "No, I need that now and within the hour, yes that's it, no make it look like a robbery gone wrong, no I don't need you to bring me their money your guys can keep it as a bonus, also I will pay them each an additional bonus on top of the price. You know money is no issue for me, no if I wanted Seraphina to kill them I'd call her, but this is beneath her skill level and that would be overkill, so we have deal, good call me back when they're dead" Erasiel stated. "Gripmaw! Kerborg!" Erasiel ordered and the two faceless appeared in front of him.

"Orders my lord?" Kerborg asked.

"I need you two to fetch about 20 brief cases of solid gold bars and about 18 other Faceless to help you carry them all" Erasiel stated, and the two Faceless complied without asking.

Erasiel walked into the Trix's dorm where he found the Trix as usual doing various things. "Ladies I have something we're going to do, who's up for some fun at Stella's expense" Erasiel stated.

"I'm up for some fun! Especially if it means ruining Stella's day" Stormy stated excitedly, jumping up from her bed, Icy and Darcy followed suit getting up from what they were doing though not as quick as Stormy.

"Alright I'll bite, what do you have in mind Nathan" Icy stated.

"A competition, Stella's entered the Miss Magix competition downtown and I have the intention of making her lose, before no I don't need you to enter the competition I just need you three to be the judges, I've already entered a certain contestant, call it a comeback story; a Witch who once did not look so good is now a natural beauty she'll show Stella how best do that duty, she's a friend of someone close to me and boy this is a duecy, she's nice and sweet and her name is Lucy" Erasiel explained, at the last part the Trix's draws dropped and Erasiel thought to himself that all three of them had the mother's surprised face.

"Wait Lucy! That girl who's an eyesore to anyone at Cloud Tower, she isn't what I'd call beauty pageant material" Darcy responded.

"Was not beauty pageant material Darcy was being the key word here, here is a before and after image" Erasiel stated holding a picture of Lucy before her transformation and another afterwards.

"Wow since when can you do that?!" Icy asked incredulously.

"For a while actually, it's a rather complex potion and requires some pretty rare ingredients but I have a ready-made supply, also the effects of the potion are permanent thanks to special ingredient" Erasiel answered.

"What is that ingredient?" Darcy asked.

"Phoenix Blood, note that Dragon blood works as well but that is harder to obtain, Phoenix Blood is a perfect substitute and does the same thing, like I said the ingredients for the potion are rare, also you three are natural beauties you don't need it" Erasiel responded.

"That I agree with, still though why would you do this, also how exactly do you intend to get us to be judges, anyway I will go along with this plan just to see the look on Stella's face when she loses" Stormy replied.

"First off the reason I did this was Mirta asked me to bring Lucy out of her depression, she was manically depressed when I saw her and probably would have killed herself within few days if I didn't intervene, so I did this for her to bring her out of her depression but also to teach Stella a lesson, I have it on good authority: Flora specifically that she skipped class to sign up for this competition something I have no approval for, her losing this competition should send a clear message to her, also can you see the irony of her losing to Lucy, someone who has only had the beauty she deserved for a few hours versus a princess who's been beautiful her whole life and flaunted it, plus there's fact Lucy is from Cloud Tower and Stella from Alfea it's a perfect way to show that once again Cloud Tower is the better school" Erasiel explained, the Trix smiled at the last part, they weren't so sure about Erasiel's motives but they were definitely in a mood to humble Stella and on top of that score another point in the Alfea/Cloud Tower rivalry which would most likely result in some bonus points in Griffin's good book.

"Deal we'll do it, so how do you intend for this to go?" Icy asked.

"Well first off I'd like the Gold to go to Lucy, the Silver to Stella, and the Bronze to a Girl from Red Fountain, just to send another point that both Alfea and Cloud Tower are better than Red Fountain, plus let's be realistic here, if Lucy wasn't competing then Stella would definitely come in first, thus since she can't come in first we will give her second, just to make sure that we get the point across, secondly I'd like the two runner ups to be from Alfea; since Lucy according to my sources is the only witch from Cloud Tower in this competition I want Alfea students to take higher billing, everyone else feel free to rank as you will" Erasiel explained.

"Alright now how are you going to go about making us the Judges and how are you going to keep the head official for the competition from getting suspicious of the whole thing" Darcy asked.

"As for the Official, Kerborg and Gripmaw have a sizeable amount of Grease to make sure he isn't asking in undue questions or interfering in the process, as for getting you three as the judges, well I've managed to open up the positions for you thanks to Lethos and his boys" Erasiel stated.

"So, in other words you're going to bribe the official and you've had your Dark Elf Assassins kill the actual judges" Darcy responded.

"Exactly, now we need to get downtown as quickly as possible wouldn't want to leave Lucy and the other ladies hanging, as for making sure the competition goes our way, well you may have to as they say in show business break a leg, not yours though other people's legs and make them fail" Erasiel explained and they soon left.

They arrived at the location of the Pageant noting a police car parked out front, when they walked in a police officer was asking questions to a man in a tuxedo who had curly black hair and a rather impressive mustache of the kind worthy of Gilad Pellaeon. They waited for the officer to leave before talking to the official, Erasiel was dressed in the attire of man ready to make a deal. "Trouble?" Erasiel asked the man.

"Yes indeed" the man responded in a thick British accent.

"First off nice to meet you I'm Lord Erasiel Nathan Darkar, son of Lord Argulus Darkar and Lady Avarra 'Brightstone' Darkar and your name is" Erasiel greeted.

"Laurence is the name, Laurence Chester, I'm in charge of the Miss Magix Contest and I'm in a terrible situation at the moment, apparently all my judges for the contest were murdered in robberies gone wrong, the police are investigating at the moment but so far no leads, but that doesn't solve my problem I need new Judges" Laurence stated.

"That my good man is where I come in, I happen to have here three of the finest Judges on Magix, they excellent spotting beauty and talent" Erasiel stated indicating the Trix.

"They look like they've only gotten out of School" Laurence stated.

"Please, their done with it for today, they have the highest grades in Cloud Tower's history and they are more than qualified to judge this competition" Erasiel responded and the Trix nodded at his observation.

"Cloud Tower?! They're Witches!" Laurence said aghast.

"Yes, but they are more than capable of judging a competition without bias, also I have a bit of incentive for this deal" Erasiel stated nodding towards Kerborg and Gripmaw who had been standing silently behind them with briefcases and dressed in business suits with black ties and sunglasses, they looked almost human apart from their purple eyes which could be seen behind their sunglasses, Kerborg walked up with a briefcase and opened it revealing the contents within. "Now can you see what I'm offering, and there's more" Erasiel stated.

"Ah I see, that changes things very much so in fact" Laurence stated. "However, this is quite suspicious" Laurence stated at that Gripmaw stepped forward and opened another case, behind them were a line of faceless carrying briefcases holding the same cargo of Gold Bars.

"No Questions asked, no talking to anybody about this, and the money is marked to you, I even have certificates for the money all requiring your signature, all you have to do is allow the Trix to be the judges and myself to have some arbitrary powers and all 20 briefcases of gold bars will be yours" Erasiel explained.

"Deal" Laurence stated and Erasiel held out the certificates, a contract and a pen.

"Now sign here, here and initial here" Erasiel stated as the man greedily signed the papers. "Excellent good deal sir, now Kerborg you and the others, do this man a favor and deposit his new assists into his account, if anyone asks questions tell them you represent house Darkar and they'll bend over backwards if ask them to" Erasiel ordered, and the faceless walked off with the papers in hand. "Thank you good sir, now we must see a list of the contestants" Erasiel stated, Laurence lead them off and handed him the list.

Erasiel went thru it and found he knew a few people on it; Lucy and Stella were on it of course, but a certain Red Fountain specialist was in the competition, he recognized the name Artesia; he knew the name because she had given him her phone number at the Alfea dance and he had danced with her, he also was in a relationship with her currently, a non-intimate one but still a relationship. The other three names he recognized from Palladium attendance role for the Simulator testing, they were Heidi, Lolina, and Alyssa: all of which he was currently dating and in Heidi's case: banging. Erasiel then took the Trix aside and told him he had found the runner ups.

Meanwhile at Alfea the Winx were pulling out all the stops to make sure Stella looked as fabulous as possible, Erasiel had made sure however to up the ante to make sure Lucy looked even better. "Well how do I look?" Stella stated after the other Winx had finished with her readiness.

"Like a million bucks" Bloom stated, to Stella's confusion. "It's a figure of speech on Earth, you look absolutely beautiful Stella" Bloom responded, and Flora held up a mirror.

"You're right, I do look fabulous" Stella stated. "Nice job Girls, I'm so glad to have friends like you" Stella responded, and a group hug commenced. "Now off the show, there is no way Griselda will be there" Stella commented, Griselda who had caught Stella sneaking back onto campus had confined her to her dorm, unfortunately Griselda hadn't taken the Ring of Solaria into account or taken it away when she had given that punishment. Stella teleported the Winx out of their dorm and arrived at the City of Magix, specifically right across from the place where the contest was being held, everyone moving inside as the other contestants had arrived as had the guests. Bloom stopped when she noticed Erasiel and the Trix lounging on a couch that they had moved near the judge's table.

"What are you four doing here?" Bloom asked Erasiel and the Trix.

"Oh us, we are here for the show, Bloom these three lovely ladies are the judges for tonight's competition and I'm here well as a co-host if you will, you could also call me a sponsor for tonight's show" Erasiel explained to Bloom, the Trix were in various sitting poses and Stormy was even sitting upside-down.

"So, the Trix are the judges, how am I supposed to buy that they're going to be unbiased" Bloom responded.

"By the fact that we are your friends Bloom, if we were biased Stella would probably have won by default" Darcy remarked.

"Because they happen to have taken the job at short notice, also because they are a pretty good judges of character and of beauty as they are rather beautiful" Erasiel elaborated.

"Well alright, just make sure no bias happens" Bloom responded.

"Don't worry they have me to moderate them and I'm as unbiased as you can get when it comes to the subject of beauty, honestly Bloom in my eyes they're all beautiful and if I could give them all first place I would" Erasiel commented.

"Alright then well I'll be going I have to help Stella with her things" Bloom stated, then walked off through the side door where Stella and the Other contestants.

Soon the competition started, Laurence was on stage with the curtains drawn shut behind him, the lights dimmed, and a spotlight focused on him. "Ladies and Gentleman I am pleased to welcome you to the Miss Magix contest, for your view pleasure tonight one of the lovely ladies competing in this contest will win the title of Miss Magix, a prize of 50,000 Magix dollars, a gold trophy, and a new Space Strider, the second place winner will receive a silver trophy, 25,000 Magix dollars and a new Wind Rider, and the third place winner, a bronze Trophy, 15,000 Magix Dollars and also a new Wind rider Runners up will receive minor prizes of brass trophy each and 10,000 Magix Dollars, however I would first like to offer thanks to sponsors for this event, Steller Speedster industries for providing the Space Strider and Wind Riders for the prizes, Magix Fabrics for the lovely clothing that our contestants will be modeling, and Noble Phoenix House Darkar for the cash prize as well as providing our judges and co-sponsoring the event, but now the moment you've all been waiting for lets meet our contestants" Laurence introduced, then curtains opened revealing the contestants, of which there were 15. "Each of these lovely ladies hails from a different world and on top of that each has unique skills and talents that distinguish them, lets meet them now" Laurence stated then started to read off the names of the Contestants one by one, referring to them by name and the name of the world they were from, Erasiel was focused on the lovely ladies, indeed every one of these beauties was worthy in his eyes of the title of Miss Magix, each of them varied in appearance but all were beautiful, he was especially fascinated by the exotic ones, Laurence read out their names " Number 1: Miss Loni! Followed by Miss Heidi! Number 3: Miss Lester! Number 4: Miss Aguine! Number 5: Miss Bella! Number 6: Miss Stella! Number 7: Miss Lehona! Number 8: Miss Karen! Number 9: Miss Sabitha! Number 10: Miss Lucy! Number 11: Miss Lolina! Number 12: Miss Artesia! Number 13: Miss Jenny! Number 14: Miss Nioxus! And Number 15: Miss Nadia! A warm round of applause for our contestants" Laurence did and crowd cheered Erasiel loudly yelling "YAH! YAH!" like a football fanatic the applause was especially ecstatic when it came to Lucy.

"First things first we will have our swimsuit competition, then the contestants will show off their talents" Laurence stated, and the Contestants went backstage to change.

Backstage… "Did you see the audience's reaction when number 10 came out Bloom!? I'll never win" Stella stated, getting her swimsuit.

"Easy Stella, relax, it's a competition and everyone out there has the same odds of winning as you do, besides do think that she really better then you are, come on Stella, bring out your game face and say to yourself I'm feeling lucky and I'm going to win, come on" Bloom encouraged. "Besides I got to believe the judges will have a way of ranking everyone" Bloom stated.

"You know what Bloom you're right I can do this if I try, now get out of the room while I get dressed" Stella stated and then Bloom left the room to run into Lucy.

"Oh hi, I heard the audience cheer for you they must really like you" Bloom stated to Lucy.

"I know, I'm nervous this is my first time doing something like this, but I have to do it, just to prove to myself I can do it and make sure Cloud Tower has had a champion who won this contest for once and I've got to do this just make BFF Mirta impressed" Lucy stated.

"Well good luck by the way my name's Bloom" Bloom responded.

"Nice to meet you Bloom, I'm Lucy from Popularis I'm also a student at Cloud Tower and am on the school's honor roll" Lucy responded.

"Well break a leg" Bloom commented, and Lucy left.

"She seemed very enthusiastic, I'm also surprised this is her first contest" Bloom thought. "Then again she is pretty nervous despite being confident, still though I can't shake the feeling that something is up here" Bloom thought.

"I'm ready Bloom" Stella stated from inside her dressing room, Bloom came in and noted Stella in an orange Bikini with silver-threading, the images of two suns over her breasts, she also wore a yellow wrap that was part of the swimsuit. "How do I look?" Stella asked.

"Like you could launch a thousand ships" Bloom responded, Stella was confused. "It's a quote from the Iliad by Homer, just a- well a story from Earth, it the quote refers to Hellen of Troy" Bloom explained.

"Hellen of Troy?" Stella asked.

"She was the Princess of Mycenae, she ran off with Paris the prince of Troy, and her running away launched a war between the Mycenean Greeks and the Trojans, it was said her beauty launched a thousand ships" Bloom explained.

"Well that is an interesting story did it have a happy ending?" Stella asked.

"For some of the characters, not all of them though a lot of them died during the war some rather brutally" Bloom stated. "Also believe it or not it is a true story, well to some extent, but over time it was thought of as myth, anyway the point of it is Stella, you're beautiful and beautiful enough that some people might start wars over you" Bloom explained.

"Well that's an interesting story, you must tell it to me in full at some point, as for me being beautiful enough to start wars well, hopefully something like that never happens, I'd hate to have to defend my honor and my dignity with my rapier" Stella responded indicating to the sword on the dresser stand.

"Wait you have a sword?" Bloom asked.

"Of course, I do, and I am the best fencer on Solaria, so far no one has ever bested me in a duel, my rapier is a special blade called Solaria's Light, you'll see it shine in my act, I bring it with me whenever I go somewhere provided I'm not in a hurry, speaking of its part of my act you've obviously never seen a Solarian Blade-Dancer before have you" Stella explained.

"Every day I learn more about you Stella, anyway I think they're starting soon, break a leg" Bloom responded.

"Thanks, and I hope I don't break a leg why would you- wait it's a figure of speech from Earth, every day I learn more about you Bloom" Stella responded then left.

Soon the contestants were on stage behind the curtains, in the audience Erasiel and the Trix were waiting in anticipation. "Alright remember the swimsuit competition is anyone's game when we come to the talents that's where I need you to well thin the crowd as you will, just make sure there aren't any serious injuries and that the agreed upon finalists make it thru unscathed, I don't know in which order they'll go if someone is there for the ranking leave them be if there not well shake them up a little, also I noticed that one of the contestants Karen is from Cloud Tower add her to the runner ups ahead of Lolina but not Heidi" Erasiel whispered to the Trix.

"Got it, let the games begin" Darcy stated, soon the curtain drew open revealing the contestants in a myriad of swimsuits, the most surprising being those of Lucy and Stella, Stella's solar swimsuit was a crowd pleaser and Lucy shadow bikini was a delight to Erasiel's eyes, not to say he wasn't focused on other ladies, Artesia the specialist from red fountain who had long red hair in a ponytail and wore glasses also wore an impressive ensemble, and he liked Sabitha's swimsuit as it brought out the purple-skinned night-elf's figure quite nicely but he also enjoyed the outfit of Anguine the amphibious Aquarian who somewhat resembled a Zora, her outfit was stunning.

The contestants posed in various poses at the direction of crowd as Laurence instructed them, they all let out a collective sigh and soon Laurence turned to the Trix. "Alright now what do our judges think" Laurence asked.

"Well at the moment it is quite a tossup" Icy stated.

"Honestly I can't see anything wrong with any of the contestants given that they are all unique" Stormy started.

"Well I can't go any direction, sisters let us discuss our Verdict" Darcy stated and all three turned to face each other, then whispered amongst themselves for a few seconds and then turned to crowd. "For our Verdict for the Swimsuit contest all contestants will be advancing to the talent portion of the competition" Darcy stated, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Now for the Talent competition we will be thinning the ranks with a few tricks, that way we can tell how good everyone really is note these obstacles can make or break your performance, that way we can narrow down our finalists" Darcy stated.

"So, everyone bring your best because you'll have to try really hard for the gold this time" Stormy stated, and the curtains dropped allowing the contestants to ready themselves for the talent competition.

What followed were series of pratfalls worth of the great comedians Loreal and Hardy or of the Weird Al Yankovic film UHC, each contestant faced a series of magical hazards, to which some either flopped their act or managed to perform well in spite of it, the severity depended on the contestant, for instance Heidi preformed first and her performance was relatively unhindered apart from a few magic obstacles that the Trix put to hinder her performance somewhat and she emerged relatively unscathed, however Sabitha was not so fortunate and slipped on iced floor during her interpretive tap dance, fortunately the worse she got was sprained ankle but her performance was ruined. The hazards the Trix put forth either caused a contestant to fail spectacularly in a comical fashion which didn't exhibit much laughter at first until Erasiel gave an ultimatum to the audience to laugh or he would turn some guests into cheese and fill the room with hungry Skaven, this astonished the crowd and Erasiel informed them he wasn't bluffing teleporting a Skavan into the room then let him stand there for a few seconds angrily and teleported him back to where he came from. The crowd laughed more often after that, the obstacles were specifically there to spice up the performance by adding something that could be either a hazard or a benefit. The most interesting came when Lucy did her ballet dance, Stormy for effect stirred up a mild wind on stage, this actually served to enhance the gracefulness of Lucy's performance and made her dance even more fantastic that it would have been without it.

Lastly came Stella who came out dressed in Solarian fencer's gown and here the Trix threw out all the stops. "Just because we're your friends Stella doesn't mean we'll go easy on you, you'll get the same treatment as everyone else" Darcy explained. The audience was unsurprised by this remark as they had been giving them throughout the competition. The surprises the Trix put up varied from contestant to contestant so no one was getting the same trick. To Stella's shock the Trix created a myriad of Ice sculptures of various things some of which were not there and some which were and as well as sent a gale of wind down the stage added to by a mild shaking of the stage. Stella recovered her focus and began to dance with a only the grace a Solarian Princess could exhibit along with the finesse of a master fencer Stella danced in various styles dodging the sculptures both real and illusionary, then drew out her rapier and slashed, thrusted and stabbed at the sculptures as she danced, she then followed it up with an array of acrobatics which left the audiences both surprised and perplexed, Stella then continued her dance in spite of the wind which picked up as she continued, each time she intensified her act the Trix intensified the traps until Stella brought here act to conclusion sheaving her rapier to resounding applause. "Bravo! Bravo! Encore! Encore!" Erasiel yelled over the audience.

"That was an impressive performance Stella, now we will have to deliberate the winners" Darcy stated, the curtains closed. The other contestants gathered with Stella, they were either relatively on unscathed or hurt depending on their performance, all wore the outfits they performed in. Soon the curtains drew open and the staff brought out the trophies. The Trix once more debated among themselves quietly or pretended to at any rate as they had already come to a decision. "Now for top three winners for the Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies: In third place come Artesia of Andros" Darcy explained and there was applause followed by the handing of the bronze trophy as well as flowers to the bright-red haired specialist whose dancing dogs had wowed the audience. "Next in second place with Stella of Solaria, who has earned the Silver trophy" Darcy stated, Stella's hopes fell a little, but she was gracious in receiving her second place Silver Trophy. "And our grand prize winner goes to Lucy of Popularis also Lucy of Cloud Tower for her grand ballet dance, in other words the Miss Magix contest has its first ever Cloud Tower champion" Darcy stated, and the crowd cheered, Stella was a bit irked, but her jealousy was tempered by the fact that she honestly felt Lucy deserved to win especially after watching her ballet act, she had tried to wow the Trix with her Blade Dance but while she had awed them significantly but not enough to turn the tide.

"Lucy you have won the grand prize of a gold trophy, 50,000 Magix dollars and a new Space Strider all curtesy of our sponsors, Stella you have won the runner up prize of a silver trophy, 25,000 Magix Dollars and a new Wind Rider, and Artesia you have won the bronze trophy, 15,000 Magix Dollars, and a new Wind Rider, our runners up are as follows in fourth: Heidi, in fifth Karen, in sixth Lolina, in seventh Alyssa, in eighth Sabitha, in ninth Aguine, in tenth Bella, in eleventh Nadia, in twelfth Bella, in thirteenth Loni, in fourteenth Lehona, and in last place Nioxus" Laurence explained, as he did the staff handed out the prizes to the contestants in order.

After the contest Lucy spoke with Stella. "I loved your performance, I've never seen something like that ever" Lucy complimented Stella in the winners room.

"Thanks for your opinion, I'm personally sad I didn't win but given that this was outperformed last year I'm ok with losing again this year, there's always next time" Stella responded.

"Thanks, you know that this was my first time doing this so I'm glad you are being so kind about this, honestly I wasn't feeling so happy earlier today and this competition and winning it well it makes me feel so much happier" Lucy replied.

"Well once again congrats on your victory, I'll do better next year though" Stella replied.

"And you'll win next year, I'm not competing next year, I've already won once and I don't need to do it again anytime soon, by the way here's my number; call me if you want to talk about stuff, I've got to get going, my friend probably is worried sick about me, won't she be surprised when I show up in a new Space Strider with 50,000 dollars and this bouquet of lovely Lynphean Star Flowers, and this trophy, and you know what I'll say Mirta, I'm glad and happy for the first time in a long time I'm happy because I've done something that I never thought I would ever do" Lucy stated.

"Well thanks for your kindness though I'm surprised you didn't do something like this before with your looks" Stella stated.

"I'm shy, I don't like to get out much, so I have few friends most of whom aren't here, I haven't seen my parents in a long time I have disagreements with them, and the only constant friend who honestly trust is Mirta since we've been friends since we were kids and the only one who stayed friends with me after they found out I was a witch, and the only inspiration I've had is the Trix, so anyway I have to go like I said Mirta's probably worried sick about me" Lucy stated then left Stella and Artesia. "Loved your dogs by the way Artesia they made me smile" Lucy stated as she left.

Shortly… "Good thing that this ride came with side car, now I just need to put these in there and this on" Lucy stated to herself.

"First time driving one of these?" Erasiel asked approaching Lucy.

"A Space Strider, yes, a Wind Rider no, I've been able to fly one of these since I was ten" Lucy responded.

"Mind if I tag along" Erasiel asked.

"No problem" Lucy replied nodding Erasiel sat down towards the rear of the bike, Lucy put all her things in the side car then put on her helmet, she had already dawned the armored jumpsuit, then put the key in the ignition and started it up, Erasiel held onto her back as they ascended into the air, he himself wearing his own suit which he had on him for the occasion, he knew about the prizes in advance and had prepared accordingly, Lucy to his surprise moved his hands from her shoulders to her breasts, he was surprised she trusted him that much. They flew out of Magix City and over the forest, the sun was setting but there was still a good deal of light, Erasiel noted the sights seeing things that only his far-seeing bird's eyes could see, like the movement of deer in the forests, the movement of a Beastmen War-Herd moving towards one their Herd Stones which he could see, the dancing of Dryads, and the movement of other things, some benign such as dancing leprechauns others aggressive like a large Arachnorok spider which was hunting a heard of deer, he then saw the sight of Alfea in the distance as well as Lake Roccaluchee and Lake Teransia, then in another direction the imposing stronghold and School of Red Fountain where the school's tamed Dragons were allowed roam free and fly freely at this time of day before returning to their dens, then he saw the awe inspiring site of Cloud Tower, the spiral tower towering upward as if to poke the sky, beneath central tower walls stood out in elaborate defensive patterns while the figures of Gargoyles, Harpies and a few Hydras stood imposing in the courtyard and about the tower, at the foundations was carved the Grand Hydra in finest granite along with the rest of the school. They approached and arrived at the vehicle garage, where Lucy parked her new Space Strider next to her Wind Rider, and chained it down, before starting to pick up her other prizes which Erasiel offered to help carry which he did taking everything into his arms, Lucy took off her helmet and placed it in side car as Erasiel had used magic to put his away.

"I'll wear this just to surprise her, just wait until you see the look on her face" Lucy stated, then started to walk down the hallway, Erasiel nodded as he past the Trix's room, he told them via Kerborg he wouldn't be sleeping in their room tonight. They soon arrived at Lucy's dorm and Lucy knocked.

"Is that you Lucy?" Mirta asked.

"Yes, and I have some surprises for you" Lucy stated, Mirta opened the door and her jaw dropped to see Lucy. "Like the new look, I took a potion and the results are amazing, also its permanent and I refuse to change back to old me"

"What Lucy? What did you do? And what's with the outfits? And why is Nathan carrying a trophy, a bunch of Lynphean Star roses and a briefcase? And most importantly what happened to you?" Mirta asked both Lucy and Erasiel walked in.

"I helped Lucy with her problem you said to do anything you had to do to bring out of her depression and so I did, I made her beauty potion, the permanent kind and gave to her, she then decided to enter a beauty pageant and she won first prize against Stella by the way and she had get pass the high bar of the Trix as judges, and here we are, I've cured Lucy's depression and I regret nothing" Erasiel explained.

"Well Mirta?" Lucy asked, her friend hugged her.

"I'm so glad you're feeling better, I'm annoyed that you had to go to such extreme measures to pull it off though and that you've well changed your look, but other than that you're still the same Lucy I always knew, and I won't tell a soul about how you used to look" Mirta responded.

"And I'll have the Trix get the word around that bringing that subject up means you'll have them to deal with" Erasiel stated.

"And you handsome you deserve a reward too, my undying love" Lucy stated then hugged Erasiel and made out with him.

Mirta interrupted them "Lucy we're friends and friends share" Mirta said with a knowing grin, all three of them had faces of interest and soon well, things escalated. Lucy and Mirta striped down to just their stockings and Erasiel to nothing, then they dragged him to the bed, however Mirta locked the door with a spell and Erasiel cast another to cancel any noise. "Friends share don't they? Well I'm glad to see you two aren't fighting over me" Erasiel stated.

"Lucy you go first, this is your first time" Mirta stated to Lucy who nodded.

"Thanks, Mirta, hey don't stay out of the fun just because I've been allowed to go first" Lucy commented, then Lucy turned to Erasiel's phallus which at this point was fully erect. "Wow I've never seen anything like this before, I mean how long is it?" Lucy commented.

"About 10 inches, by the way Lucy please put your tongue to use" Erasiel stated.

"Sure thing, I know how to, I've seen you and Mirta at this before" Lucy stated then starting to suck on it, meanwhile Mirta had at this point climbed onto Erasiel's head and he started to put his tongue to work, felicitating moans from her, however she lowered herself and joined Lucy in the work of blowing Erasiel.

"Hey Lucy, you might want to try this" Mirta commented then wrapped her D-cup breasts around Erasiel's phallus. Lucy complied and wrapped her F-cups in the same matter as Mirta, they then proceeded to move up and down the length, then they locked lips and made out while enjoying this.

Within a few minutes Erasiel was ready to unload as were Mirta and Lucy, all three orgasmed at the same time, Erasiel licking the juices off of him, while Mirta and Lucy assisted each other in removing large bukkake that had been left all over their faces and breasts. Soon they dismounted Erasiel and he took Lucy, and held her in front of him, he then spread her legs and her butt cheeks before entering her ample rump and beginning to ride. Lucy moaned his name in pleasure, Mirta clung to his side and Erasiel alternated between kissing her and drinking from her breasts the later left Mirta even more exited then before, Lucy moaned into a pillow. Elsewhere in Cloud Tower Griffin noted something to herself "Erasiel must be still awake, well no matter, time for me to get my beauty sleep"

Erasiel's thrusting, Lucy's moaning and enjoyment of all three of them continued like this for about 15 minutes until Erasiel let loose again. Erasiel turned Lucy over, "Are you ready?" Erasiel asked, Lucy nodded then pulled him forward into a kiss and into her, he snapped her barrier rather quickly and painlessly as Lucy didn't seem to react to it being broken, nor to the blood seeping out. At any rate Erasiel pulled her back and pushed her upward, he then allowed Mirta to once more mount his face and he ate her out.

"Mirta your turn is next" Lucy commented, then suppressed a moan the enjoyment.

"Yeah, I know, you're pretty good at this Lucy, and I love your new look more now, I don't know why I was annoyed with it before" Mirta commented.

"Thanks, also don't let anyone tell you that you aren't beautiful, your freckles make you look even more lovely, they blend seamlessly" Lucy replied, the two locked lips once more, as friends though they were too obsessed with Erasiel to be anything more. Erasiel continued and kept up his efforts but after so much time he again unloaded into Lucy, who fell off fatigued. Erasiel was quick to grab Mirta bend her over and go into her amazing ass and ride her to her full enjoyment. They continued to make love into the night, until Erasiel passed out with Lucy and Mirta on either side of him.


	13. Arc Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Monster and the Willow

Erasiel woke the following morning, both Lucy and Mirta had already left gone to their classes, which was a shame as he was in the mood for more, he then remembered something. Flashback… "Don't worry Flora I'll help with your project" Erasiel stated "Thanks Nathan you're the best" Flora responded and kissed him.

"I promised to help Flora with her project" Erasiel stated to himself, dressed into his day clothes and with this he jumped out of bed and dashed down the hallway, running at the speed of Darkar. He passed the Trix in the hallway and yelled "No Practice today ladies go nuts!" Erasiel stated and the Trix cheered and jumped for joy. Erasiel darted out down the hallway to the garage where he had parked his Space Strider put on his suit and took off soaring out of Cloud Tower. With no passengers or inhibitions Erasiel put the pedal to the metal and went as fast as he could, flying over the many sights that he had seen yesterday, looking off to notice occasional movements in the forest, the skyscrapers of Magix City, the Black Mud swamp in all its putridity with the swamp goblins moving in the bogs, usually unseen by most but Erasiel could see them fine and clear with his eyes, and then Alfea, the splendid College with its wonderful courtyard, fine gate and walls, magnificent buildings, its central tower and the number of forts near the school where campus security troops stood vigil watching the forests and ready for anything that might come out of them, mainly Beastmen and Forest Goblins, but other things dwelled in the forest that would be a threat to anyone who entered them, the best policy was to contain the nasty creatures inside, the worst parts of the forest were blocked off by high tech barriers that where both resistant to magic and anything that the Beastmen and Goblins had access to as well as being able to protect against some of the larger denizens like towering Cygors, gigantic and ferocious Arachnorok Spiders, the terrifying Jabbersclythes, horrible Ettins, Trolls of the hunter breed, as well as far worse. None of these horrors however threatened the school as long as the barriers held, and the projectors for them were out of reach of most of the forests inhabitants and those that could reach it had to risk the Sentinels, advanced robots of Phoenix engineering that concealed their true power in floating spheres.

Erasiel flew closer to Magix and slowed down to begin his descent with this kind of situation he wasn't worried about, he arrived and landed parking his Space Strider in front of the fountain to the surprise of the students and to the outrage of Griselda, who made clear her opinions until Erasiel took of his helmet, then she ran off with her tail literally between her legs. Erasiel entered the school after putting his bike attire with his bike, he passed down familiar hallways, kissed Jennifer when he ran into her, continued on his way and arrived at the Winx's Dormitory where he walked in to hear see Stella arguing.

"No, you've gone too far this time Flora!" Stella fumed.

"I don't see what the problem is Stella" Flora stated, then Bloom entered the room.

"No, you've gone way too far and I'm putting a stop to it!" Stella replied.

"What's happening Stella and what's going on?" Bloom asked, Stella and Flora glared at each other.

"Nothing Flora's overdoing it as usual" Stella commented.

"Overdoing it? I have an exam soon Stella in Alchemy, I'm just carrying out a few experiments that's all" Flora stated.

"Overdoing it yes, you have been for about a half the month now oh I'm going to use the power of flowers to repel dark spells, or I'm going to impress Professor Gelt with my knowledge of counter spell potions" Stella retorted.

"So, what's wrong with that" Bloom responded in Flora's defense.

"What's wrong with that, in case you haven't noticed your room with Flora has become a giant Chemistry Lab in addition to being filled with your collection of miniatures" Stella responded.

"So, what, I promised Flora I'd help her study, besides we've already passed the simulator test I don't see what your problem with that is" Bloom responded.

"Yeah some test" Stella retorted.

"Hey, I had to take on Darcy's gauntlet of opponents all 100 waves of them then I had to fight her and her sisters on top of all that! It was by no means an easy test!" Bloom responded.

"What's going on here?" Erasiel stated as he had been quiet the whole time hoping that Bloom would break up the argument.

"Oh Nathan!" All three of them said at once.

"That's my name don't wear it out" Erasiel stated. "Now what in the name of Asha are you three arguing about, also Stella apologize to Bloom" Erasiel continued.

"Oh right, I'm sorry Bloom, you're right I shouldn't fault you for doing so well in the test especially when I haven't taken it yet" Stella apologized.

"That's ok Stella you're just a bit nervous" Bloom responded.

"Nervous, Bloom you should see my room" Stella stated.

"Well show it to me and I'll be the judge of it" Erasiel stated they entered the room and Stella began explaining

"Alright for starters I gave Flora permission to put her flowers by the window seal because they need lots of sunlight which she spread out herself but then she put a bunch of Melanoma-Veracosa- "Stella explained but Flora interrupted to correct saying "Menmosa-vainatosa!" "Whatever, she put them next to my mirror, My Mirror Nathan! My Mirror!" Stella continued.

"Well that's normal they feed off reflected light and your mirror is so huge that they get a lot of it" Flora responded.

"Normal you call that normal!" Stella responded then pointed to the plants which Erasiel noticed for the first time to his amusement as the plants were wearing Stella's clothes and using her cosmetics. "They're wearing my clothes and using my makeup!" Stella stated.

"So that's why they're called Vainatosa Stella" Flora responded.

"It's not that bad Stella" Bloom stated.

"Not that bad! Yes it is! Look at them they're wearing my shoes, using my makeup, and look at them! They have no taste whatsoever! They aren't even wearing the matching shoes and the outfits don't match one bit!" Stella complained.

"What do you expect Stella they're just plants" Flora responded.

"I find this whole situation hilarious" Erasiel commented then broke out in laughter which Bloom joined.

"Besides Stella, Tecna hasn't complained about it" Flora stated after Erasiel and Bloom stopped laughing.

"Speaking of Flora where is Tecna?" Erasiel asked, they then went Tecna and Musa's shared room where they found Musa sitting on her bed listening to Music and playing video games on her laptop. Erasiel tapped Musa on the shoulder and she paused her game and her Music.

"Oh, hey Nathan when did you get here" Musa stated, Erasiel hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey Musa, have you seen Tecna?" Erasiel asked.

"No haven't seen her since this morning, but I've been busy playing on my computer, the video games Bloom brought with her are amazing to play and it gives me an excuse to crank up my music while I'm fighting waves of enemies in Star Wars Battlefront also the multiplayer for this game is great you should play it sometime" Musa replied.

"Have you had any problems with my plants" Flora asked.

"We have plants in our room?" Musa asked confused.

"Yes, I asked Tecna to keep some seeds in the dark inside her closet" Flora replied.

"Well then let's check the closet" Erasiel stated having a feeling something was up, he opened the closet door to find Tecna all tied up in vines. "Well Flora I've found Tecna" Erasiel stated in used a simple spell to untangle Tecna.

"About time you got here Nathan, I went in my closet to grab a change of clothes when these plants grabbed me" Tecna stated annoyed though not showing it due to her Zenithian trait of not showing emotion.

"Musa she was in there all this time and you didn't notice" Stella stated to Musa.

"How was I supposed to know, I don't have a habit of searching people closets" Musa stated.

"Alright Flora I'm willing to forgive you but I just want to know what those seeds were" Tecna responded.

"They were triple S's" Flora explained, Erasiel glared at her with the glare of exact name please Flora. "Oh, sorry that means Sequoia-serpaliverous-swifta" Flora clarified.

"What?! Flora those are a highly invasive species not to mention highly aggressive!" Erasiel stated.

"I'm sorry I didn't know they'd grow so fast I'm sorry Tecna" Flora apologized.

"It's ok Flora just don't do it again, also they have to go" Tecna responded.

"I'll take care of that, trust me this particular plant breed and I have mutual experience I'll deal with them" Erasiel stated, then walked into the closet and burned the Triple S's to a crisp pile of ash at which Flora winced.

"Alright well I'll just recover myself, pack up my things and move them off to the Black Mud Swamp, as Alfea clearly isn't suitable for my experiments" Flora stated gloomily.

"The Black Mud Swamp? Flora you can't go there alone! That place is dangerous" Musa stated.

"Yes, remember the last time we went there we were attacked by Goblins, you won't last a day there on your own" Bloom stated, and Flora left.

"Alright she's not going alone, I'm going with her, I promised my dear Flora that I'd help her study and I'm more then capable of handling a few goblins" Erasiel stated.

"Says the guy whose staff was stolen by them at Lake Roccaluchee" Bloom remarked causing laughter.

"That was a fluke, besides I got it back, also I usually use fireballs on them" Erasiel replied

"I'll go with you she's my roommate besides I promised I'd help her too, and where I was raised we keep our promises and our word matters the most" Bloom stated and followed Erasiel.

"Well let's not just stand around here on ceremony lets go help them" Musa stated and Tecna and Stella glared at her. "Come on are you two really going to let your friends go off into a dangerous swamp by themselves, especially Nathan with him they're sure to get into trouble" Musa stated and both Tecna and Stella relented, Tecna because of her love for Erasiel and Stella because of the friendship and she wanted any excuse to get as far from Griselda as possible. "That's better, Winx Club forever" Musa stated.

Within a matter of an hour they had packed and dressed for the trip into the Swamp, Stella had wanted to wear her day clothes but Erasiel glared at her and told her "You'll be complaining about how messy they'll get the whole time" she relented and dawned more sensible clothes however not shoes and that was something Erasiel didn't fight her on believing she'd learn from experience that they would be a bad option. Within an hour they had arrived in the Black Mud Swamp, fortunately the Goblins had retreated back into their territory during the last month and the swamp was safer, also the area they were heading to was a good ways away from the Goblins' territory. Soon they had made camp pitching Flora's tent which was pink and decorated with flowers.

"I'm glad to have friends like you guys, willing to go with me into crazy places like this, I still can't believe we're all here" Flora stated.

"Yeah me neither" Stella stated sarcastically, swatting flies.

"Please Stella I've been in crazier spots then this, for me this is a walk in the park" Erasiel stated the bugs ignored him out of the fact that whenever they came near him they died of combustion from a spell Erasiel used as a perfect bug repellant. "Besides Stella don't be so grumpy the sooner we help Flora with her experiments the sooner we can get out of the swamp" Erasiel stated.

"Nathan's right, besides all we need to do is find this flower" Flora replied, then showed them a picture of a flower from her book. "This is a Cheerful Gladiolus, they are a primary ingredient in curing sadness spells" Flora explained.

"That's a pretty flower Flora, but are you sure it grows here?" Stella asked.

"Yes, it does, the ecosystem of the swamp supports a vast diversity of flora and fauna" Flora replied.

"Including some interesting creatures, some which are dangerous and some that are quite kind" Erasiel stated.

"So, we just need to find the flower and go, it should be easy!" Stella stated.

"It's not that simple Stella, it's a very skittish flower and it doesn't allow itself to be picked easily" Flora explained.

"Yes, very much so, fortunately we only need one petal for this potion" Erasiel stated.

"Yes, even more so with my newest invention, with a drop of this mixture…" Flora explained then took out the invention in question and dripped a drop of the mixture onto a nearby plant, a leaf fell off then grew into multiple plants. "With this I can create an infinite number of petals all for my experiments" Flora explained.

"A useful invention, it took me years to find the right mixture to pull that off Flora, how long did it take you" Erasiel asked.

"With Professor Gelt's help: two hours" Flora replied.

"That's great now let's get to work, Kiko you stay here in the tent, you heard Nathan the swamp is not a safe place" Bloom instructed, her rabbit got the message and ran into the tent and closed the folds of the tent behind him.

"Bloom I think Kiko might be magical" Erasiel commented, Bloom laughed at the suggestion.

"Maybe, he seems highly aware" Bloom stated then laughed again.

"Can I stay here too? Someone has to watch the camp and Kiko" Stella commented this caused more laughter.

"Stella we need you, with us, besides Kerborg can stand watch besides he'll be a better guard" Erasiel stated.

"What do you mean, are you saying I'm not good at standing watch?" Stella asked.

"No nothing of the sort, I'm just saying you are a freshmen fairy who was held back due to blowing up an Alchemy class and Kerborg is an eons old Faceless with just as much experience, combat prowess, and magic to match, trust me the camp will be in good hands" Erasiel responded. "Speaking of Faceless: Kerborg!" Erasiel barked, then Kerborg showed up at attention and in his true form. "Stand watch over the camp and Kiko so nothing happens to either him or our stuff, Gripmaw!" Erasiel ordered, and Gripmaw also appeared. "Bat form, and sit on my shoulder, you'll be coming with us" Erasiel ordered, and Gripmaw transformed and sat on his shoulder.

"Well than everyone ready?" Bloom asked, and everyone nodded.

"Well than no dallying about Tally-ho!" Erasiel stated, donning his explorer garb and Pift Helmet.

They trodded thru the swamp Stella complained about her shoes. "I told you Stella to wear practical clothing, and well you did apart from your shoes" Erasiel commented.

"Hey these are my designer heals I am not going out of Alfea without them" Stella commented.

"Well the fact that there now a mess is your own fault" Erasiel commented then turned to Bloom. "This reminds of my safari to Africa back in 1896, Nebula and Daphne were with me and we were with the expedition of a good friend of mine Lord Oswald Chutney" Erasiel stated.

"Wait you were in Africa, in the 1800s how old are you and how old was Daphne?" Bloom asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you how old I am, but I can answer your other question Daphne is about 2016 years old at this point in time" Erasiel replied.

"Well that's a shocker, when she said she was my older sister she wasn't kidding, but she looked so young" Bloom responded.

"Faeries are Immortal Bloom and ever youthful, I'm surprised with all your reading of fairy tales and fantasy novels you didn't realize that sooner" Erasiel stated.

"You are right, I should have realized that soon, but wait does that mean I'm- "Bloom asked.

"Yes, you are, as are Stella, Musa, Flora, Tecna, the Trix and every other Fairy and witch you've met so far, and some of the specialists as well pretty much all magic users in fact, however just because you're immortal Bloom does not mean you're invincible, you can still die in battle, disease can't kill you though you can catch it nor will old age, only death at the hands of another" Erasiel replied.

"Wow but what about you?" Bloom asked.

"Well I can die, but it wouldn't matter" Erasiel stated.

"What do you mean?" Bloom asked.

"That you'll have to figure out for yourself, just saying but the answer really isn't relevant because I am not dying anytime soon" Erasiel stated, then Stella screamed.

There was a quick rush to see what happened then they found Stella face down in mud. "Are you ok Stella" Bloom asked.

"No, I'm not ok, I'm tired, dirty, and my feet are killing me from all this walking around, if only we'd find those stupid flowers!" Stella commented, and Flora gasped.

"Quiet!" Flora stated hearing movement.

"No! I refuse to be quiet! You'd said we'd find them- "Stella started to say but Flora covered her mouth.

"Look" Flora stated, and everyone turned to see what she saw. What Flora had seen were tiny nymphs they looked like miniature mermaids with transparent flaps of skin under their arms, they were different colors one was blue and other purple.

"Undines" Erasiel whispered. "They're miniature water nymphs, they are a rare sight and mostly native to this swamp, keep your voices low, they're shy and distrustful of anything bigger than they are much less that walks on land" Erasiel explained, the laughter of the nymphs could be heard.

"They're beautiful" Bloom whispered.

"And small" Musa commented, the peaceful scene didn't last long as Stella bit Flora's hand causing her to yell in pain, scaring the nymphs.

"Oh no Ground Walkers! Let's run!" One of the nymphs said and they began to run.

"Wait! We aren't going to hurt we're friends, I'm Erasiel of house Darkar and a Phoenix, you worship Shallassa don't you" Erasiel stated diplomatically, Shallassa was the Greater Phoenix of Water and was revered by many creatures who dwelled in water as she had created them.

"Yes, we do, a Phoenix do you serve Shallassa" one of the Undines asked.

"No, I serve Asha the Greater Phoenix of Order, sister to Shallassa and the Phoenix Queen, I am her herald, prophet, consort and king, most importantly though I am her diplomat and your friend, my friends and I need your help can you help us?" Erasiel responded.

"Yes, we can, what do you need" One of the Undines asked.

"We need to find a certain flower the Cheerful Gladiolus do you know anyone who can help" Erasiel responded.

"Our Queen can, follow us we'll take you to her" the Other Undine responded, then they lead them down river to peaceful glen, this glen was a beauty to behold: the trees were proud and clean, the flowers shined on the banks, and in the great pool where the river entered the Glen where many lilies flowered, and they were of numerous breeds, and noticeable beneath the water and on the shore were cities made of a material that only Erasiel knew what it was.

"This place is beautiful the Undines were right to bring us here, look at the all the lilies and the gladioli, and look at the water" Flora stated, then the Winx looked under the water to see a city that was no bigger than a dining room table to the Winx, well from what they could see of it, according to Erasiel he could see further, and the city was much larger.

"Look in the water" Stella stated, in the water they saw the city it was composed of many bubbles similar to that of Otto Gungah from Star Wars but smaller and clearer and with Undines moving from place to place.

"It's a miniature city" Bloom commented, then one of the two Undines swam up, the other had gone ahead of her to notify their Queen.

"I don't mean to be rude, but we can't exactly invite you into our houses" the Undine stated.

"I can- "Erasiel was about to say as the other Undine returned, he was about to explain he could use his magic to miniaturize them, so they could enter the city.

"Our Queen has expressed a desire to meet with you and will see you now" the other Undine stated, and they followed her down river to a large throne dug into the roots of the oldest tree and which was made of flowers and lilies and the court of this open room was festooned with decorations made of rock and flora, the Queen sat on her throne with a number of Undines in courtly attire alongside her, also near her were Undine Warriors, they wore armor made from a material that was known to them and only their race knew how to refine the armor was as strong as steel, they also wielded halberds made from the same material, the Queen herself was dresses in gown made from lilies and she had gold skin unlike many of Undines however there were some with green skin amongst the court, she wore a crown made from gold and shells.

"Welcome to our home, we rarely have visitors much less ones so large in stature and who walk on land, also it is good to see you again Lord Erasiel Darkar" the Queen greeted.

"Thank you for the warm welcome your majesty" Erasiel greeted, he carried himself as well as any noble at a lords court and with a grace of a ruler. "These are my friends the Winx Club faeries, this is Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa and Tecna" Erasiel introduced, "Bloom and Stella are both Princesses, the Princess of Domino is Bloom and the Princess of Solaria is Stella" Erasiel stated. "also forgive Bloom for her lack of royal etiquette she has been raised on the different world from her home for most of her life" Erasiel explained.

"It is great to meet you, Princess Bloom, Princess Stella, Flora, Musa and Tecna, I am Queen Ninovee Algae and I welcome you to my court, well secondary court there are those among our people who live above ground and those who live in the water, though most of our people live underwater, it has been a long time since we have had outsiders in our midst, 30 years in fact" Queen Ninovee greeted.

"So, wait you know Nathan I mean Erasiel" Musa asked.

"Yes, she does, the Queen and I are well old friends to put it lightly and lovers on the extreme end, I'm also the herald of Sylvanna the Greater Phoenix of Nature and thus care for those who dwell in it, I watch the forests and make sure that the most important of Sylvanna's children and creations are kept safe and aid her children where need be, as Water nymphs the Undines fall in both her domain and Shallassa's domain" Erasiel explained.

"Indeed, and we worship both Greater Phoenixes in our temples, but we also revere Asha, as she is the greatest of their race and of them all" Queen Ninovee explained. "But enough of formalities, it has come to my attention that you seek the Cheerful Gladiolus, I can provide that to you Flora as I can see you are of pure heart and a true friend to nature" Queen Ninovee explained. "However I am in need of your assistance, our people are under threat from the Monster of Black Island, this creature threatens the source of the material needed for our survival, something that we use to make our great cities, it is called Xylith and it can only be found on that island, we use it to make and repair the bubbles of our cities that we live in without it we would be forced to live above ground where the Goblins and other dangerous predators await, it has become dangerous of late to collect it as the Monster has been more aggressive of late, every once in a while when run low one of our warriors volunteers to gather more when we last did so it was Lusiz's turn to go, we haven't seen her since and our supplies have gone lower still and in matter of two weeks we'll have run out" Queen Ninovee explained, the other Undines wept at the mention of Lusiz as they feared the worst, that she had died and that he monster had eaten her.

"That's terrible we'll do whatever we can to help" Bloom stated.

"Praise Asha you will, good, the island isn't too far from here, collect as much Xylith as you can carry, defeat the monster to maintain our supply and see if you can find out what happened to Lusiz" Queen Ninovee stated.

"Alright Winx lets transform and move out" Erasiel commented earning a glare from Bloom. "Alright I won't use that line again, besides Bloom you're in charge and I'm only your humble advisor" Erasiel stated.

"Alright Winx ready" Bloom asked.

"Ready when you are Bloom" Flora responded.

"Then let's go, Magic Winx: Charmix!" Bloom shouted and the other Winx Transformed. (It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the power of Charmix and you will shine Bright Spread you're wings and fly Light it up the Sky its easy if you try It's the power of Charmix. It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky!) "Bloom fairy of the Dragon Flame" Bloom shouted as she transformed.

(If you want to go far, never give up on your dreams! Because you know you're wonderful just the way you are! Deep inside your heart there is the power of a Winx just close your eyes and let it shine!) "Flora Fairy of Nature" Flora shouted as she transformed.

(It's the power of Charmix your magical light the power of Charmix and you'll shine bright, spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's easy if you try!) "Stella fairy of the Shining sun!" Stella shouted.

(Every day on the edge you know what you've got to do, just give your best and you will see! You'll never be unknown! We are all for one! Burning Brighter than the Sun! Just Close your Eyes and we will shine!) "Musa Fairy of Music!" Musa shouted as she transformed.

(It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's easy if you try! It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! Charmix!) "Tecna Fairy of Technology!" Tecna shouted as she transformed.

(This is what you are and now you're a powerful Fairy! Irresistible! You will be the Star! Come Fly with the Winx! It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's the power of Charmix!) "Erasiel: Phoenix of Balance" Erasiel shouted as he transformed into his combat form.

"Come on Winx lets move out!" Bloom shouted and they all took flight. They flew above the glade and saw the Island from above, the mass was maze of plants atop a rising hill and on top of it was a red tree. They descended and landed on the bank of the river.

"So, Bloom what do you think when the Queen said Gigantic monster, in my opinion we look gigantic to her so wouldn't the monster be medium sized?" Stella commented.

"I wouldn't be so certain Stella, looks can be deceiving, also my gut tells me to be ready for a big fight and that what we're facing could be seriously dangerous" Erasiel stated.

"Look somethings moving beneath the water" Musa commented.

"Be ready for anything" Erasiel stated and readied a fireball in his free hand, the other held his staff, at his side Bloom couldn't help but notice the two swords, Falchions, like Erasiel's armor they were purple and orange and the seemed to be made of the same metal in addition to those blades was massive two-handed variant of the same design. Everyone's attention however was on what happened next as great monstrous head emerged from the water and roared. Erasiel threw a fireball at the creature burning it and causing it to retreat under the surface.

"Well that was easy" Musa commented.

"Don't be too sure, besides I've never managed to drop anything of that size with one fireball usually it takes about three dozen of them mixed in with a bunch of other spells to boot" Erasiel stated. "Bloom hold this for me use it to focus your magic" Erasiel stated and handed her his staff. "This kind of creature seems to be resistant to magic which means I'm going to need to break out Persuasion and Reason for this" Erasiel stated and drew the two Falchions from his side. Before he could react the monster reared its head out of the water and swallowed Musa into its mouth. "Shit!" Erasiel swore. "Come on don't just stand there we have to save her" Erasiel stated.

"Well water isn't exactly our element" Stella responded.

"We'll use air bubbles like the Undines do" Erasiel stated and cast on each Winx.

"Now for a final touch Lux Luminous" Tecna casted and the bubble glowed with light

"Tally-ho!" Erasiel shouted putting down his face mask as the dived into the water.

"Where did it go?" Bloom asked rhetorically. Erasiel and the Winx studied the water then saw the mouth of a cave of which bubbles were blowing out of.

"There" Erasiel stated.

"But how do we lure it out?" Flora asked.

"Rather simply" Erasiel stated then sheathed one sword. "Shem's Burning Gaze!" Erasiel casted and series of light balls crashed into the caves mouth waking the beast, the monster popped out and opened its jaw allowing Musa to fly out. "Now to make sure we can get out: Optical Darkness!" Erasiel casted blinding the creature, they then flew out of the water and out of the reach of the beast.

"That was a close call now what do we do?" Bloom asked.

"Something is wrong, that creature isn't what it seems to be, this whole place, wait this Island isn't an island at all, It's a Giant River Tortoise and it has gone nuts" Erasiel responded.

"So, the monster isn't really a monster at all, we have to help it this poor creature must have a dark spell cast on it" Flora stated.

"You're right, Giant River Tortoises are usually quite docile creatures they don't attack unless attacked themselves, something is agitating the tortoise that its being aggressive to anything that come near it" Erasiel stated then studied the surroundings. "Look Flora those trees notice anything about them" Erasiel stated.

"Yes, they're Red Willow trees!" Flora stated. "That must be what's causing the tortoise to be so aggressive" Flora continued.

"Alright this looks to be a grove, we'll need to advance from the ground I can't tell which one of these trees is the leader from up here, as you've noticed the trees are in a spiral pattern and they'll move to protect their leader, the only way to find the leader is to approach from the ground be ready for trouble" Erasiel explained, they landed on the shell that was the island and began to follow the path.

"This seems too simple (Yawn) it's like they're letting us pass" Stella stated after they had walked for a bit.

"Yes, that's normal they want us to reach their leader so that the leader can deal with us, be cautious" Erasiel stated.

"You seem really anxious have you seen these before Nathan" Musa asked.

"Yes, and trust me the experience was a mixed bag, on one hand they destroyed a Morden warband that had been chasing me and my companions but on the other they tried to kill us as well, trust me Musa Red Willows are as bad as Briarheart Trees, if not nastier" Erasiel stated.

"So why aren't they attacking us if we are their enemies" Bloom asked.

"They like to toy with their pray let it die of thirst or other things, they don't feed off the dead like Brairhearts who grow from the corpses of the dead and seek to drain the blood of it, Red Willows are cruel and spiteful and love to torment anything that moves about freely" Erasiel explained, soon more yawning.

They had progressed further into the sea of trees when Stella yawned and said "I'm tired I need to rest five minutes please" Stella stated then passed out, Bloom shortly afterwards followed by Musa.

Tecna was drowsy but still conscious, Erasiel was unscathed then he yelled "Tecna stay awake, try and secure your helmet!" Tecna shot alert and green window closed down over her helmet. "Are you feeling better, this is bad Tecna, I forgot Red Willows have sleeping pollen Phoenixes are immune to its effects, but I forgot Faeries weren't" Erasiel stated.

"I'm feeling better, my helmet has a filter system it should make sure I'm breathing oxygen" Tecna stated "What about the others?" Tecna asked.

Erasiel thought for a moment then asked "Tecna can you put up an oxygen bubble?"

"Yes, I can! I can also vent out the bad air" Tecna stated then cast a spell to generate an oxygen bubble around them, Erasiel used his magic to extend the bubble to cover the Winx. Tecna then opened a hole to vent out all the pollen, the Winx woke from their slumber.

"ah that's so nice" Stella mumbled as she woke then noticed a ladybug on her. "AGH!" Stella screamed then jumped up awake and tripped over a rock, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

"Well Stella I didn't realize you had a fear of ladybugs" Flora commented.

"Do not, I just thought it was a poisonous snake!" Stella responded.

"If it was poisonous snake it would have bit you Stella, hard." Erasiel replied. "Come on we have to find this joker of a leader tree and then we can get the hell out of here" Erasiel stated. They continued down the path till they came to a large gnarled tree, at its foot rested an Undine clad in armor similar to that of the Queen's guards at her side rested her halberd also several birds rested in or near the tree. "That must be Lusiz, and that's the leader" Erasiel stated.

"Yes, that must be her, alright Winx here is the plan Tecna extend the barrier see if we can wake Lusiz and those birds, then once they're free we'll deal with the Leader tree" Bloom stated, Tecna extended the barrier with Erasiel's aid and soon it covered most of the island shell. Lusiz stirred and woke grabbed her halberd and readied herself to fight.

"It's alright, you're Lusiz right, Queen Ninovee sent us to rescue you" Bloom stated she calmed down and lowered her halberd.

"You're here to help, good when I got here I realized that the monster we feared wasn't a monster at all just a Giant River Tortoise, these trees must have caused it to go mad with nightmares" Lusiz explained.

"Yeah we figured that part out already" Stella responded.

"Now let's deal with the tree" Musa noted, the Tree stirred and opened eyes then growled and sent out roots to attack, Everyone flew upward out of its reach included Lusiz which surprised the Winx but not Erasiel as he knew Undines were capable of flight.

"You evil tree! I'll turn you into a Bonsai!" Bloom yelled and sent a fireball at the Tree.

"Bloom use my staff it will focus your magic, I'll go and give this a tree an overdue trimming!" Erasiel stated, threw his staff to Bloom then drew Persuasion and Reason and descended on the tree. Bloom unleashed fireballs, while the other Winx sent their own attack downward, "Flaming sword of Rhuin!" Erasiel casted, and his blades ignited aflame, he then charged at the tree and began slicing each limb it attacked with causing the tree to roar in agony, "Now to chop you down to size!" Erasiel taunted. Additional trees attempted seize Erasiel, but he ignited himself on fire burning his attackers with his true fiery aura and flesh. "Alright tree you are giving a good run for my money and that deserves a prize, here have a head that never stops screaming! Burning Head!" Erasiel yelled and a large fiery screaming skull tore itself into reality and began burning the grove.

"Laser pulse attack!" Tecna casted hitting the tree in its top branches. The Winx descended lower as Erasiel had cleared a safe path

"Enough if we're going to solve this problem we're going to have to get to the root of it!" Erasiel shouted, and Bloom hit one of the roots.

"You're right we have to strike underground!" Bloom yelled. Erasiel cast a spell that rent the ground exposing the Tree's roots. Both Bloom and Erasiel sent a cascade of fire at the roots which spread into the tree.

"No! I'll end this!" Flora shouted then shouted, "Death of Nature!" which casted a spell that rotted the tree out of existence, along with all the other trees on the turtles shell.

"We did it!" Stella cheered.

"Don't celebrate so soon Stella, we need to find the Xylith" Erasiel stated.

"I can help with that, though I'm worried the tortoise will leave soon and without it we won't have a supply of Xylith" Lusiz stated.

"I think I can help with that" Flora stated.

A Few hours later… They had returned to the Queens court with as much Xylith as they could carry. "Alright your majesty we have collected all the Xylith we could, and we have found Lusiz" Stella stated. Lusiz ran up to Queen Ninovee who hugged her tight

"Thank you for deeds, not only have you brought us more Xylith and dealt with the monster, but you've brought my dear daughter Lusiz home" Ninovee stated.

"Wait Lusiz is your daughter?" Bloom asked surprised.

"Our daughter" Erasiel amended, "I was so worried when your mother told me what happened Lusiz, I'm so glad though you were saved though, and you're a brave warrior!" Erasiel stated then shrunk himself to the size of an undine and gave Lusiz a hug.

"Wow Nathan you didn't tell us you could do that" Bloom commented.

"I haven't told you a lot about me, anyway I can do the same for you" Erasiel stated returning to his normal size. "Anyway, we found out that the monster wasn't really a monster it was just a grouchy Giant River Tortoise, sadly though it will be leaving soon but Flora has a solution to the Xylith problem" Erasiel stated. Flora took on of the Xylith leaves and planted it then took out her invention and dripped on drop onto the leaf and 20 full grown Xylith plants emerged.

"With this invention of mine you'll have all the Xylith you could ever need" Flora stated.

"Thank You Flora, you have more than proven yourself, also here is the Cheerful Gladiolus" Ninovee stated, as a flower shined from the nearby garden "It will allow you to pick it Flora" Ninovee stated.

"Thanks, but I only need a petal then I can use my invention to get more" Flora stated, she then plucked a petal from the flower, then took a Ziploc bag from her pocket and put the petal in it.

"You have done more for us then anyone ever his, more than Erasiel even on his first visit, we are in your debt and you can always count on us as friends in times of peace and allies in times of war" Queen Ninovee stated.

"Thanks now what are we going to do" Musa asked.

"Well if Erasiel wouldn't mind shrinking us we can have a look around the city" Stella stated.

"I thought you wanted to get out of the swamp as soon as we found the flower" Erasiel responded.

"That was before the whole running into a secret civilization of Undines, now I want to see what they have in terms of fashion, I'd like to get some new outfits then enlarge them to my natural size" Stella commented. Everyone laughed, and they spent hours in the city before returning to campsite and then to Alfea.

At Alfea…. Flora walked into the Alchemy class with a basket of potions and folder of papers. "Professor Gelt, I've finished all those extra credit assignments and I'm here to turn them in" Flora greeted the golden masked and golden robed wizard who sat at his desk.

"Good job Flora bring them here and let me see" Balthazar Gelt stated in his metallic voice, Flora came to his desk and put the basket and the folder on it, Balthazar went thru the papers first checking over them then examined the potions, pulling the cork out of each to smell them, after a couple of minutes of him doing so Gelt turned to Flora, he brought out a red pen. "You have everything I asked for all the mixtures are stable, even Gladiolus extract is there, did my mixture come in useful for that?" Gelt inquired.

"It definitely did, I used it for the petals but also to help some Undines grow Xylith after me, Nathan and other Winx helped them defeat a monster terrorizing them, I even brought some Xylith for future use" Flora stated.

"Excellent work Flora, you get an A+ for each assignment, plus extra credit for bringing me something I was short on and for saving the Undines, after I enter these grades in the computer you should be ahead of everyone else in my class, I'm grateful for your dedication to Alchemy, it's a shame you aren't a metal caster, or I'd teach you some of my less dangerous but still secret concoctions" Balthazar Gelt responded.

"Thank You Professor Gelt be at your class on time Monday" Flora stated then left, behind his mask the wizard smiled.


	14. Arc Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Secrets Revealed

A new day dawned, and the Weekend had begun, Erasiel woke from a snug bed with Heidi lying asleep next to him, fortunately her roommate was Khadija and she was also lying next to him, memories of their threesome from last night flushed into his head and he teleported out of bed and dressed before either of the two girls awakened. The previous day's expedition into the Black Mud swamp had left him at Alfea rather late in the day so rather then head back to Cloud Tower he decided to stay at Alfea for the night, one thing had led to another and here he was this morning, he snuck out of the room, then out of the dorm in general, he heard alarm clocks go off behind him then he bolted down the hallway before running into Faragonda.

"Ah good morning" Erasiel greeted.

"Good morning Erasiel, what are you doing here?" Faragonda asked.

"Oh yeah about that, well I was helping Flora with a school project got back here late and decided not to head back to Cloud Tower then well I found something else today and Heidi and Khadija and I well we- "Erasiel explained.

"I understand, you know you have to keep a low profile, if word got out you were in relationships with my students well I might get into serious trouble" Faragonda responded.

"With who, the Wizards Council is in my debt and they are our allies and understand my relationships, any legal challenge would be impossible to bring forward with my army of lawyers and anyone who might try anything rash has to get thru well my associates anyway you have a good day I haven't exactly figured out what I'll do yet" Erasiel responded.

"Well then have a good day my husband" Faragonda stated then kissed him on the cheek and he continued along his way.

Erasiel had only gone down three turns when he bumped into Griselda. "Good morning my bittersweet daughter" Erasiel greeted then planted a kiss on her cheek and hugged her, Griselda only glared at him. "Oh, come on don't give me that look my little girl, come on let your negative attitude go for the weekend, you don't have to lecture anyone" Erasiel continued.

"Very well then I will endeavor to be happy and leave the students alone" Griselda stated. "And one more thing, I haven't forgiven you for that incident at the dance" Griselda stated.

"That was Kerborg's doing not mine, he pushed you into the brawl and threw the pie, I have no control over him at those events" Erasiel stated. "Anyway, I'm off I have to figure out what I'll do for today" Erasiel stated then proceeded off, he still was uncertain what to do a few hours later until he saw something that he wasn't expecting Bloom sitting by herself.

"Hey Nathan" Bloom stated in a cheerful tone of voice. "What are you doing?" Bloom asked.

"Figuring out what I'm going to do today, I have the weekend off, I give the Trix the weekend off from training and I've got little else to do, you have any ideas?" Erasiel responded.

"Well I'm starting to miss my parents, not birth parents my step-parents" Bloom stated.

"Well you could pay them a visit, you have the weekend off, it's a perfect time to spend time with them" Erasiel responded.

"You're right that's a wonderful idea, hey why don't you come with me, I can show you around Gardenia, introduce my parents to you, and we can have fun just the two of us Winx" Bloom offered.

"Definitely then, do they know about your powers?" Erasiel asked curious though he had a sneaking suspicion who they were, and they were fully aware of Bloom's powers.

"Yes, they were the ones allowed me to go to Alfea, they stopped outside the barrier and said they couldn't go any further" Bloom stated, Erasiel was puzzled further.

"Alright then well it will be nice to meet them" Erasiel stated. "Well If I'm going to Earth I better look the part" Erasiel continued then caused his tail to disappear leaving him looking perfectly human.

"Well then let's go, wait I need to get some things then we'll go" Bloom stated, then went to her dorm, Erasiel waited patiently, Kerborg landed on his shoulder.

"So, do you have anything you need me to do milord" Kerborg asked.

"Not much other than accompany on this trip, believe me you will enjoy it" Erasiel stated then pulled out his phone and played games on it, a half hour later Bloom showed up, with a backpack and Kiko in hand, the rabbit giggling as she tickled his ears.

"Alright I have everything, now we can go" Bloom stated.

"I'll do the honors" Erasiel stated then opened a portal, they walked thru it and arrived in a back alley in Gardenia, the transition from pristine Alfea courtyard to a back alley was noticeable, though for a back alley it wasn't that dirty, it had been recently cleaned and emptied of garbage, apparently the people of Gardenia were of the sort that cared very much how clean their LA suburb was. "Well here we are, now let me show you around, but first I need to drop my things off at the house, head to the park and I'll see you there" Bloom explained then both Erasiel and Bloom separated. Along the way Bloom noted something, blue clouds above people that resembled them, they interacted with her and she could hear them, some were pleasant, and some weren't, then some people didn't have any that could be seen. Also, during this time, she ran into Mitzi who didn't have a cloud above her head neither did her sister Rayael who was with her, Mitzi hadn't changed one bit, and though she noticed Bloom had changed and made comments about reform school which Bloom corrected her in saying that it was a Boarding School.

Bloom soon arrived at her home, the one she had lived in all her life. She ringed the doorbell and Vanessa answered Bloom could see a cloud that resembled her step-mother above her. "Bloom! It so good to see you back, come in I was about to start making lunch" Vanessa greeted then noticed Kiko start make noises for attention. "I missed you too Kiko, I'll get you some freshly cooked carrots alright" Vanessa stated at this Kiko cheered up. Bloom walked inside found Mike sitting in his chair watching TV she could see the same kind of cloud over him.

"Oh, Hey Bloom, you won't believe the nonsense going on in the news, I just changed the channel everyone is all in a firestorm about the election but other than that every thing's been good since you left, how's school been going lately for you" Mike asked.

"Great actually, the first week was interesting to say the absolute least, I actually got detention but that wasn't my fault, there was dance and some boys got rowdy one of them pinched my friend's and roommate's butt and another friend of mine noticed this and shouted it out, that started a fight, it ended up with us girls winning it, against guys who were rank amateur specialists and got detention for it" Bloom explained.

"Bloom how did you get into this situation anyway" Mike asked.

"Well the dance was going smoothly until the gifts were brought out, some creep named Lucius Leary from Red Fountain had replaced the nice Lightspark Eggs with Giant Crow eggs, everyone panicked, anyway that group of specialists we fought was actually defending Leary they claimed he had been framed even though the evidence was right in front of them, anyway that's beside the point, only a highlight, I also have a boyfriend one of those specialists, the blonde his name is Brandon and he's nice, though he is a sore loser; Darcy one of my friends from Cloud Tower beat him in a Wind Rider race, she actually knocked him off, other than that I made a bunch of new friends, my roommates: Flora, Musa, Stella, and Tecna are some and we actually formed a school club, also there is Amaryl, Emily, Ortensia, Francine and a bunch of other fairies, then there are the witches from Cloud Tower, initially we were told that Witches of Cloud Tower weren't to be trusted and the people who told us that were wrong: there's three witches in particular the Trix sisters Icy, Darcy and Stormy, they are our best friends and they've saved our lives more than once and Stormy saved mine, they also-" Bloom continued to tell stories, until Vanessa called her name, she went into the kitchen leaving Kiko on Mike's lap.

"There you are Bloom, I need your help making lunch, here help me with mixing this, also- "Vanessa stated.

"Mom is something burning" Bloom stated then black smoke came out of one of the pots followed by something worse a grease fire.

"Grease Fire!" Vanessa shouted, her apron caught on fire, Bloom cast a spell absorbing the fire into energy and into her she did the same with the stove fire.

"Thanks Bloom, you really have improved you left" Vanessa stated.

"Thanks, Mom too bad I couldn't save the pot roast" Bloom stated.

"Never mind the Pot Roast you saved us and the house, don't worry we'll just eat out for lunch, anyway I need your help around the shop" Vanessa replied, Bloom nodded, and they left the house and got into Vanessa's Sedan and drove off.

"Mom I need to ask you some questions about what's happened since I left" Bloom stated.

"Well ask away" Vanessa stated, Bloom asked about current events and how thing had been going since she was away, she was told about recent events, apparently the US military had captured Saddam Hussain in Iraq and that the country was now in an insurgency, the economy was relatively good, and presidential Election had come down to President George W. Bush vs Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and that the polls were debatable.

Vanessa then asked Bloom about how things had been going for her at Alfea, and Bloom explained everything that had happened over the past month and a half leaving out the part about her Royal heritage.

"Well that's certainly interesting Bloom" Vanessa stated, she inside her head was wondering when to tell Bloom the truth about who she really was and about Bloom's true parents, well at the moment she wasn't of the mind to tell her that not at least while she was in the car.

"Hey Mom, you mind if I borrow your phone for a minute I need to call my friend Nathan and tell him to meet us at your shop, I was going to show him around town and I worry that I Ieft him in the park by himself" Bloom asked, Vanessa nodded, and Bloom took the cellphone and called Erasiel's number.

"Hey Bloom" Erasiel answered. "What's been going on, I've been standing in the park for the past hour wondering when you'd show up, by the way whose phone is this?" Erasiel asked.

"My Mother's hey could you head to the Flower shop about a couple blocks away from the park, we'll meet you there, my Mom's going to buy lunch want anything?" Bloom asked.

"Depends where you heading?" Erasiel stated.

"Well Wendy's by the looks of things, yes Mom, she said she would get you lunch what do you want?" Bloom stated.

"I'll have their 10-piece Chicken nuggets large sized with a Root Beer" Erasiel commented.

"Alright" Bloom stated and Erasiel hung up.

Erasiel proceeded to the shop and found it, the door was locked and the sign said closed but he simply waited, then a familiar figure showed up, not Bloom but someone else that someone she was talking to on the day he met her it was Mitzi, also she wasn't alone another girl about the same age was with her, the unknown girl in question wore pink lensed glasses, a yellow short-sleeved shirt and jeans, her hair was bob-cut and she had the same figure and eyes as Mitzi, her hair was also the same in fact they looked too similar to each other not to be related. "I haven't seen you in town before, who are you and what is with the staff" Mitzi asked.

"The staff, Family heirloom, as for me, well I'm Erasiel Nathan Darkar, call me Nathan, I'm from out of town, also the staff is actual gold, I come from a very wealthy family that is very far from here" Erasiel greeted.

"Well then nice to meet you Nathan, I'm Mitzi Goldwater, this is my twin sister Rayael" Mitzi responded.

"Any relation to Bernie Goldwater?" Erasiel asked.

"Great-great-Uncle once removed, anyway I'll be going, just wanted to say hi" Mitzi stated then left with her sister, not too long after a white sedan pulled up and parked in front of him, out came Bloom and a face Erasiel hadn't seen in a long time.

"This is my Friend Nathan Mom" Bloom stated.

"A pleasure to meet you" Vanessa greeted giving him a hard look, Erasiel doing the same. "Anyway, we should head inside and have Lunch" Vanessa stated, then took her keys and opened the door, Erasiel and Bloom brought in the bags of food and the Drinks then they headed inside, the walked past the front of the small shop, behind the counter to a room that was clearly meant for dinning, it was opposite a small office where Vanessa did her book keeping. Erasiel had been rather hungry as had been Bloom they didn't talk at all while they ate and then afterword they had a discussion.

"Hey Nathan, we need to talk" Bloom stated

"What is it Bloom" Erasiel asked.

"I've been seeing things lately, people as I walked about, there were blue clouds that resembled them, and they talked, am I going nuts or is this normal for faeries" Bloom asked.

"Ok Bloom what you are seeing is something perfectly normal what you are seeing are called Auras, all living things have them and all magic users can see them, however only non-magic user's auras can be seen normal, magic users whether aware or unaware suppress their aura indirectly and directly, the only way you'd see a magic user's aura is if they allowed you to of their own free will and no you can't see mine only two people are allowed to see it my cousin Avalon and Asha" Erasiel explained.

"So, this is completely normal, that's good anyway I was worried that I was going nuts" Bloom responded.

"Don't worry Bloom you'll get used to it, it's harder when you live on a world where magic is rare and largely dormant, however you don't have to worry about it though you would do well to pay attention to people's auras, they give away their true feelings, its useful when you're dealing with non-magic users in a variety situations" Erasiel stated suddenly the sound of a car pulling up perked his ears and those everyone else at the table.

"Oh, that must be Mr. Brown and Mr. Bonner, there may soon to be business partners I'll introduce you two to them" Vanessa stated the three left the dining room and went to the front of the shop where two men waited to greet them. The first man had gray hair, a Clark Gable mustache, pale skin and dark eyes. He was much older and shorter than his partner. His business attire consisted of a sea green suit, a white dress shirt with a red vest, green and yellow striped tie and brown dress shoes. The other man was a tall, fair complexioned man. He was the younger one between the two men. He had auburn hair that is slicked back and brown eyes. His business suit consisted of a navy, striped blazer with a fuchsia dress shirt and a purple tie, dark teal business pants and white classy shoes. Both men smiled normally, and they were relaxed.

"Good to see you again Mrs. Peterson, we're here with the last of the forms, who are they" Mr. Bonner asked.

"This is my daughter Bloom and her friend Nathan, Bloom, Nathan these are my future business partners, Mr. Brown and Mr. Bonner" Vanessa introduced.

"Good to meet you Bloom and Nathan" Mr. Brown greeted.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Erasiel Nathan Darkar, call me Nathan for short, I'm here on vacation" Erasiel greeted.

"Nice to meet you, anyway we're Vanessa's soon to be business, partners, Vanessa has offered to sell her shop to us, the name only" Mr. Bonner explained.

"Yes, we are looking to invest and take this one shop into a chain across the US" Mr. Brown continued. The two men were kindly and looked reputable however unaware to them, Erasiel Bloom and Vanessa could see their auras and see them quite clearly.

"Another sucker, it's amazing how foolish people are, once she finishes the paperwork we'll own this shop then the last building on this block will be ours and we can turn it into a shopping mall, expanding our front company further" Bonnor's aura stated.

"Yes, amazing there are so many suckers, yet another expansion, we can make more money to cover our backs on our international drug and weapon smuggling and human trafficking ring and expand out syndicate into LA and get more money that way" Brown's aura responded to Bonner's aura.

"So now here are the papers Vanessa, fill them out and we'll be back later" Mr. Brown stated, they deposited a large pile of papers on the counter.

"Alright then I will see you two later" Vanessa stated, and the two men left, getting into their limo, as their driver opened the door for them.

After the limo pulled away Bloom shouted "Mom you can't sign those papers, those men intend to steal your shop tear it down, and build shopping mall"

"I am fully aware of that Bloom, but we have something else to discuss something more important, your true heritage Bloom and who I am, but first off it has been 16 years since I last saw you, my beloved Broodmate Erasiel" Vanessa stated, Bloom was dumbfounded.

"What, Broodmate what are you talking about and how do you know about my heritage?" Bloom asked confused.

"Come Bloom, Erasiel we must discuss this matter in private" Vanessa stated, then went to the front door and put up the sign marked closed, they then proceeded into the back room where they had lunch previously. "Alright Bloom the time has come for me to come clean, starting with who I truly am, Vanessa is my middle name my true name is Avarti Vanessa 'Lightstar' Darkar, and I am a Phoenix, a Phoenix of light and heavens to be precise. My father was a Star Phoenix and my mother a Light phoenix, I was born their first hatchling and like my parents and my house served house Darkar. I was taken by Lady Avarra as her handmaiden, personal bodyguard and retainer, it was there I met the love of my life Erasiel Darkar, the lady's son, we fell in love first sight, eventually we mated and did the ritual of bounding to become Broodmates, becoming a Broodmate is deeper than any marriage as you bound your soul to your partner and know all their very being, only Phoenixes are capable of this. Over the millennia we fought alongside each other through many battles, then 16 years ago we were separated, I and my Faceless Lighthorn were given a task to protect the infant Princess of Domino, that was you Bloom" Vanessa explained then continued. "Domino was attacked by the Ancestresses and their armies; we were given no warning and they attacked by complete surprise, the Royal City of Sparx was overwhelmed and their forces entered the palace, the time had come to evacuate, in order to allow for security, we split up into two groups, Erasiel and Nebula protected their charge, while Daphne and myself protected you. The plan had been to come by separate routes to the transporter room and head thru the portal to Solaria, Erasiel and Nebula made it first, however Daphne and me were pinned down by a group of dug in Morden, the monstrous foot soldiers of the Ancestresses, Erasiel came to help us and we broke thru but the Ancestresses approached, in a moment of desperation Erasiel opened a portal to Earth, where Lighthorn and I fled, the portal was completely random and we were deposited into a burning building where near us was the body of a fallen fireman, Lighthorn assumed his guise and well became Mike, we soon acquired the house then well we assumed our alias living on Earth; bidding time until the day when you were off the age your magic would be tapped; I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner Bloom but given the circumstances of you wanting to go to Alfea I figured I could tell you when you were on break" Vanessa explained.

"So, all these years you've been protecting me, wait if you're a Phoenix how come I can see your aura, Erasiel said that I'd been unable to see the aura of a magic user" Bloom responded.

"The reason you can see my aura Bloom is because I allow you to see it, I may not be your birth mother, but I love as if you were my own child, I care dearly for you, but I don't need to explain further you can see it in my aura" Vanessa responded, and indeed Bloom could see from her aura that she was completely sincere.

"So now what, you said you knew those two men were deceiving you so why accept their offer in the first place?" Bloom asked.

"To put a stop to them for good, all the other people they have conned weren't able to tell if they were lying to them, me knowing what they're capable of and what they want will keep any other unwitting victims safe from those criminals" Vanessa stated.

"So how are you going to go about that?' Bloom asked.

"By beating them at their own game by fighting them" Vanessa stated.

After the development of a plan Erasiel dispatched Kerborg to spy on Bonner and Brown. Kerborg revealed that the two had hired goons for the purposes of trashing Vanessa's shop that night to scare her into making a deal quicker, also they had other associates in town they were meeting with, the plan was simple repel the attack on the shop, get evidence of their crimes, wrangle up any accomplices of the two crime lords and bust the two if they tried to flee town, suddenly as they were finishing the plan the limo of the two crime lords pulled up. "Now for phase one telling them the deal is off" Vanessa stated, as the two men entered the door.

"Ah Vanessa have you finished filling out the forms" Mr. Brown asked.

"No, in fact I've changed my mind, I did some thinking and decided I like my business just the way it is, nice and simple besides I've found a better investor someone with a lot more capital" Vanessa stated.

"But I don't understand we had a deal" Mr. Bonner responded.

"I said I got a better deal with someone else and I remain the sole owner, and I get to keep my shop the way it is, nice and simple" Vanessa stated.

"But you've already filled out most of the paperwork- "Mr. Brown started to respond when Erasiel cut him off.

"Vanessa has said the deal is off, get the hint and leave before I throw you two out" Erasiel commented.

"This isn't over, we have other means of acquiring your shop" Mr. Bonner threatened.

"I'm sure you do, now leave" Vanessa responded.

"Fine but deals aren't the only things that can be broken" Mr. Brown stated then smashed a vase, Vanessa kept her cool and Erasiel charged at the two men seized them by their shoulders and threw them out the door.

"Deal's off, now get this, if you try anything you'll regret it, because you'll have made me an enemy and those who make me enemy don't live to regret it" Erasiel stated, the two men got into their limo, they were however unaware that a certain Faceless had while the two were inside overpowered their driver, killed him, deposed of the body by dropping it in Hydra pen after stripping it and teleporting and taken his place.

"Well then this changes things Mr. Bonner" Mr. Brown stated.

"Yes, it's time to accelerate our plans, make sure we get what we want" Mr. Bonner replied.

"What did that young man mean though that we would regret making an enemy of him?" Brown responded.

"Who cares, he's made an enemy of us and we'll deal with him soon along with the other two, I wonder how much that red head will fetch for a sex slave" Bonner replied.

"If I had to guess a few Million on the Chinese market, possibly more somewhere else a fortune in Iran definitely" Brown replied, and both men laughed manically, Kerborg sent the info to Erasiel.

Later that afternoon, a brick crashed thru the window of the shop with a message attached. "Give over the shop and no harm will come to your daughter" Erasiel read. "If we were anyone else we would be afraid" Erasiel stated, then used his magic to repair the window.

"Well I hope this plan works, I'd hate to end up being sold on the black market" Bloom stated as she loaded a full magazine into a pistol, Vanessa had several guns, all registered to her, some were at the house, but most were at her shop in case of burglars, the pistol in Bloom's hands was a Colt 1911 Magnum however this was a side arm the real power Bloom had was in an AR-15 carbine that Vanessa has given her.

"Well worst comes to worse we'll use magic, hopefully though the grunts will get the message and leave when we start shooting back" Vanessa stated, she had emptied the register and destroyed all the paperwork from the two illegitimate businessmen with bolt of electricity from her palms the resulting fire destroyed the documents and was absorbed back into Vanessa's fiery form before it could destroy anything else, at the moment Vanessa was doing the same thing as Bloom, checking ammunition and readying a rifle in this case a Saiga shotgun which had been modified with a scope, among the other weapons on the countertop included multiple pistols of various makes and models, three AR-15s and two shotguns. The amount of firepower might seem superfluous but Erasiel had called back up, or as he like to call it Trouble Incorporated; five Faceless bodyguards which were trained in many weapons but would using shadow magic conceal their true forms as was normal of their race and using some paperwork that would allow them to assume the alias of security guards that had been hired last second in response to the vandalism this unexpected security would make the jobs of any thugs much harder, these guards had an established base in operations that Erasiel had established in Gardenia for the protection of the home of certain fairy named Nebula, they had operated in the region since and Vanessa had used their services to provide security for Bloom and her home. The plan involved four phases, first off defend the shop secondly get the evidence to expose the two crooks and their syndicate, third bust their goons and any associates and forth catch the two crooks and leave them for the police for the last part Erasiel had Kerborg assume the role of their driver to make sure they wouldn't escape.

That night they had split off into two groups, Erasiel, Gripmaw and two of the Faceless would hide in the alley near the shop, while Bloom Vanessa and the others would wait inside, they would hide in the back and behind the counter and wait for the thugs to come in, then they would attack, the attack would come on two fronts, the main defense and Erasiel's surprise team. Meanwhile Bonner and Browns hired goons were decently armed themselves they had AK-47s, pistols of varying makes, shotguns, and crowbars for breaking an entrance and smashing things, their guns were fitted with silencers.

The thugs arrived in two vans and there were about 20 of them, they approached the shop took a look round then smashed the window that had apparently to their eyes been replaced, they then broke down the door and charged in most of them with crowbars ready to break stuff. They were caught completely of guard as Bloom emerged from under the countertop and unloaded a magazine from her AR-15 into the thugs, two dropped dead instantly from the shots, they didn't have time to react as Vanessa and the three Elves came out from behind the door and started unloading on them, there was panic then some of the thugs fled out the door only to be stopped by Erasiel and his team which knocked out three of them, shortly within a matter of 2 minutes the attack was over, seven thugs were dead, three of them due to Bloom's initial attack, 6 were down with serious wounds, and the rest were either knocked out or tied up. Erasiel and Gripmaw interrogated one of the thugs for intel on the whereabouts of their associates that thug told them about a warehouse that was being used for the storage of goods both legitimate and not that Brown and Bonner's syndicate were storing for future sell and distribution, there were a number of the Brown and Bonnor's goons there along with a few of their Lieutenants, Erasiel used this information to dispatch a surprise police raid which was actually a number of Faceless disguised as local cops mixed in with local cops, this raid caught a bunch of the associates of Bonner and Brown and who were quickly apprehended or gunned down if they resisted. Lastly came the kingpins of the Syndicate themselves, when they heard the sirens of Police they told their driver to leave town to their surprise he drove them to the park where Bloom and Erasiel were waiting for them in their magic forms.

"What the- "Brown shouted then received a kick from Bloom to his head which laid him flat, Bonner attempted to run but was seized by Kerborg in the form of his driver.

"Kyle what are you doing, you traitor unhand me" Bonner protested.

"Kyle is dead, I'm Kerborg Faceless member of House Darkar, and the personal servant of Erasiel Nathan Darkar, the man currently in front of you" Kerborg responded assuming his true form.

"And that is a wrap, I did warn you that making an enemy of me would be unwise, yet you intended to go forward with your plans anyway, a shame perhaps you would have kept your ill-gotten gains and you criminal empire, but now you'll rot in a maximum-security prison curtsy of your own goons and your driver who was secretly an FBI agent unknown to you" Erasiel stated.

"You freaks when I- you aren't human you're aliens!" Bonner yelled.

"Interdimensional travelers technically and I'm a Phoenix and she's a fairy, also the woman who owns the shop Phoenix and my associates Dark Elves, but you know what the worst part of this is, you won't remember a thing" Erasiel stated then pulled out what to Bloom's eyes was a white rod and the last thing Bonner saw was a flash of light before falling unconscious. "Kerborg do us the favor of turning these two over to the local authorities, FBI disguise please and make sure to mention that the two of us were key in preventing their escape" Erasiel ordered, the faceless assumed the form of the Driver but wearing the uniform of an FBI agent he then used a pair of handcuffs on both men and locked them into the back of their limo.

The following morning the tell of foiled robbery and apprehension of the leadership of an international crime syndicate was across all news networks, both local and national. Mitzi was annoyed to see Bloom receiving an interview with a local reporter and telling the story of the heroic defense of her mother's flower shop and her part in capturing the two ringleaders of an international crime syndicate. "How did Bloom manage to pull this off, never mind I don't want to know, Rayael next year invite Bloom to our Halloween party, at the very least we can do that for her, how did she pull that off" Mitzi ranted, Rayael merely wrote down the invite and stored it away.

Meanwhile… After the interviews with the press about the incident, the fillings for the police report, the orders to testify at the trail for the criminals as witnesses and reassuring the government that they had no need to go into the witness protection program, Erasiel, Vanessa and Bloom returned home or in Erasiel's case a home away from home. During the weekend Bloom spent time with her few friends on Earth not telling them about her secrets, while Erasiel and Vanessa played catch up on the events of the previous 16 years and not while Bloom was around they also reconnected as spouses and did everything that it implied, eventually Erasiel made sure that Vanessa would have someone else to keep her company, well in seven months anyway a new hatchling of theirs. (Phoenix children only take seven months to have due to a faster growth speed) The weekend trip was enjoyable but eventually the time came to return to Alfea and Cloud Tower, that Monday Erasiel, Bloom, and Kiko bid farewell to Lighthorn and Vanessa and left the home in good hands and with everything they had brought with them and a bag of home-cooked cookies made by Vanessa.

A week later… Bloom, Vanessa, and Erasiel had arrived in Washington DC and were now at the White House, there was large crowd of reporters gathered and the security was tight. A man walked up to them, recognized easily as the 43rd President of the United States of America: George W. Bush. "Bloom Peterson, Vanessa Peterson, Erasiel Darkar; it's good to welcome you here; your heroic efforts in breaking an international crime syndicate with ties all over the country has been noticed by the government of the US, an FBI investigation into this syndicate has revealed a number of large scale operations, illegal ones, but also revealed that this group has been providing funding to Radical Islamist Terrorists the world over such as Al Qaeda and Hezbollah in addition to other terrorist groups such as the IRA, they also had control of the largest slave trafficking operation in the world and had ties to figures in multiple world governments including our own; Senators Bob Menéndez of New Jersey, Diane Feinstein of California and Marie Cantwell of Washington have also been tied to this group and have been arrested for their crimes, as well as several members of the house of representatives, not to mention international leaders who also have ties to this group; the intel provided from the capturing of these leaders has allowed us to prevent several planned terror attacks and locate two criminals on the FBI's most wanted list; because of your actions that go above and beyond the call of duty the United States Congress voted unanimously in both houses to award all three of you with the nation's highest civilian honor: the Congressional Medal of Freedom, Bloom step forward" President Bush stated, Bloom stepped forward. "For efforts of going beyond the call of duty I award you the highest honor a US citizen can receive: the Congressional Medal of Freedom" President Bush continued and wrapped the medal around her neck, then did the same for Erasiel and Vanessa. Back in Gardenia…. "Unbelievable simply unbelievable: Bloom getting the Nation's highest honor, crazy" Mitzi stated looking at her TV. "Now it's mandatory I invite you to my party next year" Mitzi commented to herself.


	15. Arc 1 Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Honor above All Else

The following months dragged on, summer became autumn, as Erasiel continued his efforts in training the Trix, their magical potential becoming stronger by the day, during this time he had spoken to Griffin about enrolling Mirta in Alfea to learn fairy magic, they had come up with a term of agreement, Mirta would finish her current year at Cloud Tower and start at Alfea the following year, however she would be allowed to study at Alfea and unlock fairy magic on Weekends with a tutor in this case Erasiel as the whole thing was his idea in the first place. This added another tutoring class to his schedule however to make sure that Mirta had another fairy to practice with Erasiel convinced Faragonda to give over Jennifer for personal tutoring mainly to give Mirta some help on the front of learning fairy magic, something that was easier to manage with Erasiel himself supervising. The instruction of these four would have been a lot more difficult if the two were butting heads with each other but fortunately their shared love for him and Erasiel's skills at motivation and instructions allowed him to well manage the two easily, it also helped that he had more private lessons to over if they performed well in their studies, something which he didn't need to offer the Trix or want to, if anything else he wanted the Trix to marry him before they took their relationship to that level mainly because of their royal heritage and respect he had for their mother and that Seranna had made clear to him before he left that if he got into relationship with her daughters marry them first.

At Alfea Bloom and the Winx continued their studies at Alfea and each class had left them some things, however Winter was coming and with it the end of the first semester and that meant that the amount of work they were getting had intensified, this pressure also was happening at Cloud Tower but fortunately Erasiel made sure he didn't push the Trix into shirking their other studies for learning more of the advanced magic, however at Alfea the Winx didn't have the luxury of Erasiel being around often. Thus another day had happened and they found themselves in Professor Whizgiz's class the Leprechaun showing them more interesting lessons in polymorphing, the lessons were usually of the sort that resulted in the class laughing at Whizgiz because some of the things he turned himself into were rather hilarious, though the lessons were practical as they could be used to interesting effects as Bloom noted when Jennifer had during the weekend in town turned Lucius Leary into a blind troglodyte or when Stella had polymorphed into a squirrel to avoid having to go to detention. Today however Professor Whizgiz was more serious, usually he was as flamboyant and cheery as one would expect a Leprechaun to be and he actually enjoyed the laughter when he turned himself into something people found amusing he had pale yellow skin, black eyes, and long elf ears. He had light brown eyebrows and hair. He wore a big green wizard hat, a yellow long-sleeved striped shirt. He wore a green costume on outside with an orange flower. He wore black shoes. He usually could be quite amusing but today he had a serious face. "Students today is a day in which we will finish yesterday's lessons on the many ways to scare a goblin, however tomorrow there will be a quiz, we will be covering everything we have studied so far this semester and I trust that you will be ready for it tomorrow" Whizgiz explained at this there was an uproar. "Now then it's just a little quiz, it may be covering all the things we've studied this semester however it's multiple choice and has only 25 questions, also it is review and if you have being paying attention you should have no issue with it, this is final and now let's move on to today's lesson" Whizgiz responded.

The class continued after that, however Bloom had fallen asleep, during the semester Daphne had appeared more often in her dreams and despite knowing more about her heritage her dreams still caused her much angst Erasiel did the best he could, but this still disrupted her sleeping schedule, and as a result caused her to doze off in class more often than not, fortunately she didn't snore. When Class ended however, and people began to leave they noticed Bloom sleeping and Flora attempted to wake her up, this resulted in some laughter when she did wake up. "What is it?" Bloom asked to which one of her classmates Luna handed her a mirror, her face was covered with ink which had come from her pen which she had fallen asleep on, she simply fixed this with a cleanup spell and gave Luna her mirror back. Unfortunately, the laughter got the attention of Griselda.

"What is all this racket, Professor Whizgiz's class is over there shouldn't be any reason for laughter" Griselda stated, then Priscilla, Luna's best friend explained that Bloom had fallen asleep in class to which Griselda became irate and her tail flopped up like a peacock's. With this she grabbed Bloom's arm and stated "We are going to have a talk with the Headmistress about this"

Erasiel had arrived at Alfea on other business and was in Faragonda's office to discuss Mirta's training. "Mirta is coming along faster than most students I've had the pleasure to teach, it feels good to have students again Faragonda you know how much teaching meant to me" Erasiel stated to Faragonda.

"I know how you feel, she reminds a lot of myself" Faragonda stated.

"Yes, you were of that exception when you were a Witch and came to me to teach you how to be a fairy, oh you were one of my best Students and now my lovely wife of what is now 300,000 or maybe 400,000 years now anyway it has been such a long time" Erasiel stated.

"If you love teaching so much why don't you apply for a job here at Alfea" Faragonda asked.

"It would never be the same as Graynor no if I were to have a job here it would be as a co-instructor, a tutor, or Headmaster, only those three positions would satisfy me" Erasiel stated.

"The day you become Headmaster is the day I make a major mistake but no that isn't the matter for discussion" Faragonda stated, they would've continued their back and forth when Griselda walked in with Bloom at her side.

"Hi sweetie, your mother and I were just discussing important business, what is it and why is Bloom here, speaking of which: Hi Bloom" Erasiel greeted.

"That is beside the point, I'm here to recommend disciplinary actions against Miss Bloom for falling asleep in Professor Whizgiz's class.

"Well that is unusual, Bloom could explain why you fell asleep" Faragonda stated.

"Well I've been having these dreams, having them for months now did Nathan tell you about this" Bloom responded.

"Not in depth but Erasiel has told me his findings" Faragonda stated.

"Yes, the matter of her true parentage, Bloom you know you should call me if you have more of these dreams especially if it's affecting your school performance" Erasiel noted.

"You're right, I have been but these ones are more taxing I keep seeing more of the past, battles being fought over many worlds and between many forces, the fall of Domino, you dying Nathan,, other people I don't know dying, people turned into monsters or into stone statues, Demons and other monsters and dark figures, and shades, and other things, both good and evil, I find myself in battles besides warriors of ages past or alongside people I don't know, then there's Daphne talking more and more cryptically by the day" Bloom explained.

"I see, well Griselda, let this incident slide, this is a serious condition Bloom, Erasiel I'm glad to know you have been taking care of Bloom in this matter, I would like you to continue to do so and help her learn more about the past" Faragonda stated Griselda frowned and was about to protest when a glare from both her parents Erasiel and Faragonda silenced her and she left the room.

"I think it will be best if I stick with you for the rest of the day Bloom just in case they're more incidents" Erasiel stated.

"Yes, I agree also I think it is best that Bloom gets more sleep that way she is ready for her classes, I'll notify Professors Palladium, Defour and Gelt about her absence" Faragonda stated.

They left Faragonda's office after this and Erasiel helped Bloom steady herself as she was being quite sluggish and was likely to pass out any moment she was still exhausted. As they were moving along the hallway Professor Whizgiz bolted in front of them going thru his bags in search of something or other. "Hey Whizgiz, how's your day going" Erasiel stated, the Leprechaun ignored him and continued looking through his back, he paused noted he had found what he was looking for and took off as if pursued by a pack of hungry wolves. "That's unusual he always at least acknowledges that I'm here, perhaps he turned his ears into that of a deaf fish" Erasiel commented.

"Yeah he left in such a hurry he dropped this" Bloom stated picking up an envelope that had been dropped on the flour. "This seems important" Bloom stated.

"Interesting very interesting, Bloom I'll hold onto it and figure out what it is and give to young Whizgiz later" Erasiel stated.

"Young Whizgiz? Flora told me he's been at Alfea for the longest of any of the teachers and has been around for at least a thousand years" Bloom responded.

"Young to me Bloom, I'm far older than he is, though your right in saying he's been at Alfea the longest" Erasiel stated.

"How old are you exactly Nathan?" Bloom asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you so, and truth be told I haven't been keeping track, my twin sister probably knows the answer, but I'd rather not think on that subject" Erasiel stated as the continued on their way.

"You have a twin sister?" Bloom asked.

"Yes, I do her name is Eris, the feminine version of the name of Erasiel, and I also have two older sisters Zephyr and Irietta and one younger brother Arantir, trust me I'd rather not talk about my sister, she is well over-affectionate and whenever she sees me she has to give me the worst bear hugs" Erasiel responded.

"What about your older sisters" Bloom asked.

"They love me, a lot, also they are complete opposites, Zephyr is and was Goth punk before the goth punk existed and Irietta is well so sunny and optimistic that it annoys Zephyr to no ends, but they do love me, and are way better at showing their affection then Eris, I mean at least I enjoy seeing them, I love Irietta the most though she's always been there for me, she nursed me when I was baby and thru my life, she was always there for me when my Mother wasn't, in fact Irietta's been more of a mother to me then my actual birth mother we love each other dearly and unconditionally and there is no one I trust more in the universe" Erasiel responded not mentioning the fact that he was Broodmates and that he frequently had sex with them, nor the fact that they had many children between the three of them.

"And your brother?" Bloom inquired.

"Ah Arantir, he is queer; extremely so like me he is a worshiper of Asha but he believes in her spider aspect and is a Necromancer; the most powerful in the Magic Dimension in fact, he is very eccentric and he is especially fond of handsome men and beautiful women both, by which I mean he's Bi, Bloom but other than that he tends to keep balance of things very effectively and while we disagree on some things we agree on a whole lot more" Erasiel stated as they walked into the Winx Dorm.

"So, what about your parents" Bloom asked.

"Bi-polar would be the best way to describe it, they disagree on so many things but love each other anyway, they cannot however stand to live in the same house, my father is a Shadow Phoenix he hates bright sunlight with a passion because hurts his eyes and gives him serious sunburns, so he lives in an underground Fortress the seat of house Darkar: Shadowhaunt though my mother does live with him during the autumn and winter, but she spends most of her time on Solaria to enjoy the light of the world's suns, my mother though hates my Father being out in public without his visor down, she doesn't want anyone to see his face mainly because she's terrified that a whole mob of Phoenixes will come after him wanting him as a Broodmate, trust me Bloom I inherited my father's good looks but trust me if my mother did he would let him show his face I would look well to be honest normal in comparison" Erasiel responded.

"Well (yawns) he isn't you Nathan and I think you're (yawns) handsome" Bloom stated ready to pass out on the floor which she did, Erasiel picked her up and carried her to her bed then tucked her in.

"Well it isn't the first time I've bored someone to sleep talking about my family, and I didn't even cover my cousins or uncles, but it's for the better, sleep well Bloom" Erasiel said to himself after tucking Bloom in he then sat on the guest couch and plopped his Staff against the wall and pulled out his current book, History of the Royal Family of Domino Volume X. "More light reading" Erasiel thought to himself, an ironic statement as the volume was as thick as three volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

He turned to the current page on King Sartosas the Gallant the Great Grandfather of Bloom, he and four of his ten sons, the eldest four had been killed in battle against the Light Haven fanatics, specifically against their current leader Grand Templar Arsonious, Arsonious also captured two of the 10 sons alive he burned them alive in their so-called holy fire in addition to raping and burning three of the king's daughters and forcing his son Grattion to watch. Arsonious had killed Bloom's Grandfather Grattion in single combat when he attempted to avenge his father and siblings, Erasiel had warned him doing so would be folly, but he let vengeance cloud his mind, at least the mad Fanatic allowed Oritel to reclaim Valruost the Sword of Domino from his Father after the fight but that only because the blade rightfully burned the Grand Templar's hand off. After that he wore an enchanted golden hand ever since. "Grand Templar Arsonious, if ever there's a person more responsible than the Ancestresses for Domino's fall it's him" Erasiel thought, the main reason there was an opening in their defenses for the Ancestresses to exploit was the Grand Templar's latest crusading invasion, then of course came the betrayal, King Erendor of Eraklyion didn't warn Domino of the oncoming attack because of the Ancestresses, they had destroyed the ancient but massive city Havrum, Eraklyion's largest city, to scare him into not fighting them and Erendor had cowered in fear and did nothing to warn Erasiel or the other on Domino about the attack, he didn't find out what happened until a year later: conveniently after Oritel and Marion were trapped alongside the Ancestresses and many armies and leaders of their armies and those of the Company of Light, it was a great victory but at a terrible cost. "Of all things Bloom needs to do, she needs to right wrongs against her family, will she be strong enough to face those enemies though and have the strength to do what needs to be done" Erasiel muttered to himself. Of all those enemies: The High Templar, the Traitor Erendor, the vile Ancestresses, their other dark servant and allies, of them all he hated the High Templar the most: the terrible destruction wrought by his beliefs in the mad Gods that the Light Haveners worship plus their beliefs in Elrath the Greater Phoenix of Light also the Phoenix of Cruelty who believed that he was the mightiest of Phoenixes and should be worshiped as such and he was the chief of their pantheon and the other mad gods were his brood, only one of those had any kindness Eolia Solitarious the Phoenix of mercy and tolerance. How many countless innocents were burned by the fanatics tortured by their cruel inquisitors, thrown into pits to be buried alive, their atrocities were counter to their belief in the light they claimed purify. "The most evil of crimes are done in the name of religion, and the worst offenders are the Templars and fanatics of Lighthaven: those men who suppress the rights of anyone unfortunate to live under their rule, who burn alive those who have the ability to use magic and their homes and families and anyone associated with them too, as well as knowledge, then the greatest of their crimes Graynor" Erasiel muttered, the very thought of Graynor, the destruction of the great college of Graynor the greatest most diverse and tolerant school of magic where anyone of any form of caster, warrior or scholar could study, the Academy he had taught at, then he thought of the fire the burning of Graynor Academy the torching of the great libraries and tomes. Then there was the fallen the deaths of great teachers of magic, and the worst of all the fates of his students some died quickly others escaped but some were not so fortunate many of them were tortured, some abused beyond things, some driven mad, and worst was the women and girls that he taught and worked with many of them were raped and enslaved, but worst of all was the burning, the burning and the screams.

Erasiel had broken down into tears at this point was crying into a pillow of the couch weeping, of his losses, not just his losses his failure, he had saved many of his students, many of the staff, much of the knowledge but what ate at him the most was those who died and that he was forced to watch them die by the High Templar, of all the things in his life and he had seen many great and terrible things, the Phoenix Wars, the constant crimes of Demise in his many incarnations as well as Erasiel's own as the Hero of Legend in that world, the horrors of the Warp and of Hell, nothing compared to Graynor, nothing. "WHY?! WHY?! Why did they do it! My students! I taught them! I cared for them! I loved them as if they were my own children! My students Why!?" Erasiel wept.

Erasiel was unaware however that in his weeping the other Winx had returned from their classes, in his reading and grief a large amount time had passed, also Erasiel had forgotten about the envelope at this point and it was currently in his pocket. "Nathan!? What are you crying about" Flora asked, this brought Erasiel out his grief?

"Flora?" Erasiel said thru tears she walked up and hugged him.

"What gives Nathan? I've never seen a grown man cry like that over a book" Stella stated.

Erasiel stopped and picked his book. "This no I'm not crying about a book Stella, trust me if you had lived thru what I had to trust me you would completely understand how I feel at the moment" Erasiel stated.

"What's the problem?" Musa asked.

"Memories Musa, painful ones, people I lost, those who I failed in spite of all things, my greatest regrets and lost are those I can't bring back, I hear them sometimes, in my nightmares; the dead who I failed my students, my colleagues, my Graynor" Erasiel stated. "Sorry I shouldn't trouble you with my hurts, the scars that were physical healed long ago, but those in your mind never heal, but one thing keeps me going, Justice" Erasiel stated. "Justice for those I've lost" Erasiel explained. "Anyway, I shouldn't trouble you about my past, also try and let Bloom get her sleep she needs it" Erasiel commented.

"Well it's all so interesting so can you please tell us more" Stella commented.

"Stella! Ignore her she's only teasing, for pity's sake Stella don't ask someone about their personal losses it doesn't help anything" Musa stated.

"Yes, I agree with Musa, she's being logical about this" Tecna commented. "What were you reading anyway?" Tecna asked.

"Oh that, History of the Royal Family of Domino Volume 10, the most recent and at this moment in time last volume of this series" Erasiel stated. "One of the few copies that aren't frozen on Domino or locked up in libraries that don't trust them to anyone who'd want to read it" Erasiel commented.

"This is about Bloom's family isn't it?" Flora asked rhetorically.

"Of all things Bloom doesn't know her family history is most relevant and in this case her most immediate relatives" Erasiel stated indicating his current chapter. "If she knew what happened to her Grandfather and his father she would know how I feel, there are many evils in the Magic Dimension, but the worst are those who claim that they are good" Erasiel stated. "The one person Bloom should blame the most for what happened to her family is Grand Templar Arsonious of Lighthaven, that man is responsible for allowing the Ancestresses the opportunity to attack Domino, to cause its fall, also has killed more of Bloom's relatives then any who still live, and I hate that man above anything else, he deserves the full measure of Asha's justice he deserves to die for what he did to her family and what he did to many others but above all else for what he did to Graynor" Erasiel explained his face grim and full of bleak determination.

"Justice that sounds an awful like revenge to me" Stella commented.

"It's justice if you're Asha's judge and the person who's law he will be held to in the end, hopefully he will die and not just die but burn like he did to so many innocents" Erasiel responded. The mood in the room was slightly darker. "Anyway, my personal opinions aside let's just hope one day the vile Grand Templar is brought to justice and burned alive, hopefully by those he wronged" Erasiel said in a more lighter tone. "Yeah I probably should be going, I just remembered Bloom and I while coming back here picked up an envelope that Professor Whizgiz dropped and I should be getting it back to him if no one objects" Erasiel explained, no one did, then he left the room.

Erasiel trekked through the school in search of the Leprechaun Professor wherever he was, during this time he noted the lack of people in the hallways which meant he had been more time had passed then he thought. The results of his search eventually bore fruit and he found Whizgiz in his office. "Hey Whizgiz" Erasiel stated.

"Oh Erasiel Darkar, this is a surprise what brings you to Alfea specifically my office" Whizgiz responded in a jolly mood and Irish accent common of all Leprechauns.

"Oh, I saw you earlier in the hallway while I was bringing Bloom back to her room to get some much-needed rest and you dropped this" Erasiel stated pulling out the envelope to Whizgiz's surprise. "You really need to pay attention to what you are doing, but what am I saying be glad that I found it, I would have brought to you earlier, but I was well distracted by well painful memories" Erasiel explained.

"Ah Erasiel I dropped this envelope on purpose, in fact I've been dropping ones like it, they are tomorrow's test, a test in honesty, to see what students do if they find it, do they open it or leave it be, if they open it there is a surprise inside a bit of ink it won't come off unless I cast the spell to remove it, if they return it tomorrow morning they have passed the test, I meant this to go to the Winx but I didn't factor you into my lesson and I do believe you've ruined both a practical lesson and practical joke" Whizgiz explained his face all the more happy.

"Ha! You've just made me happier, I was thinking about Graynor and was quite sad and bitter and vengeful but now I'm in a better mood, by the way nice idea for a test, I'm glad to see you took some of my lessons to heart my former student" Erasiel responded with a smile on his face.

"Well I learned from the best after all, anyway give that envelope here, I guess I will have to pass the Winx because they let you bring it back here" Whizgiz stated.

"That is a relief, good thing it was Bloom and me who found this envelope I'd hate to think what would happen if Stella got her hands on this" Erasiel stated. "Though the results would have been rather amusing" Erasiel stated, he put the envelope on Whizgiz's desk.

"Yes it is good thing, well I'm glad you put honor of all else" Whizgiz stated.

"Honor is a relative thing, besides I put Asha's justice and will above all else, apart from my personal interests" Erasiel stated rather honestly. "Anyway, I better give the Winx the good news" Erasiel continued.

"No don't it will ruin the surprise, just tell them I appreciate their honesty in allowing you to return it" Whizgiz stated, with this Erasiel left.

Returning to the Winx's dorm he found everyone engaged in one task or another, but he was annoyed when he walked into Bloom and Flora's room to find Kiko playing with Bloom's hair in her sleep, she was passed out hard. "Hey Kiko, No! Don't do that, bad rabbit leave Bloom's hair alone" Erasiel stated pulling Kiko off Bloom and depositing him in his rabbit bed, the little blue rabbit protested the whole movement of him. "I don't want to hear it; trust me while Bloom's asleep you listen to other people you got that, especially Phoenixes who have a good taste in rabbits" Erasiel commented, Kiko behaved after that.

"I think you're being a bit harsh on him" Flora commented.

"Not really, trust me he'll behave, also he doesn't have to worry about me eating him, I don't eat pets, and I don't like the taste of rabbit unless it has been barbequed, properly seasoned and severed with fries and Root Beer" Erasiel responded, Flora giggled at that. "Anyway, I wanted to let you know Professor Whizgiz appreciated the return of his envelope and was glad to have it back, also Flora do you have anything planned for the afternoon?" Erasiel continued.

"Well I do have some homework I need to finish but after that I'm free, you have something in mind" Flora stated.

"Dinner and a movie" Erasiel responded.

"Alright, it's a date, give me an hour to finish my work and get ready then we can go" Flora stated, Erasiel left the room then went into Stella's room.

"Hey Stella, good news, Professor Whizgiz says he appreciates your honesty and that you allowed me to return that envelope" Erasiel commented.

"Good news indeed, I need your honest opinion, do you think this outfit looks good on me?" Stella asked, she was wearing an orange and yellow dress with the stars decorating it, the dress left her shoulders bare, but she wore white and orange gloves on her hands and the Ring of Solaria on her right hand and on her head was gold diadem with the image of the three suns of Solaria engraved in.

"I think you look as radiant as the dawn, are you going on a date Stella?" Erasiel responded.

"Yes, I am with Prince Sky, he and I have gone on several over the past months" Stella responded.

"Well I'm glad to see you're happy, I've got a date with Flora, you want to make it a double date?" Erasiel asked.

"Well we were planning to go to dinner and a movie, what were you planning?" Stella asked.

"The same really, I'm just waiting for Flora to finish her homework and get ready, so we can go" Erasiel responded.

"Well then it's a double date, but one thing needs to be done first, your outfit not going to be suitable for the occasion let me help you with that" Stella stated.

"Well thanks, that's what great about having a friend whose fashion centric I have enough trouble making a good appearance as is" Erasiel replied and Stella went thru a collection of magazines which covered fashions for men and women, Erasiel's ability to alter his appearance was not limited to changing shape but it included the ability to wear any outfit he wanted to as if it was a second layer of skin. The result of their labors took about half an hour and resulted in Erasiel looking rather stunning the outfit was a grandiose orange and purple colored outfit of Solarian design, but it was not puffy, its design similar to grab of 16th century explorers. "Well Stella you're definitely great at your work when it comes to fashion" Erasiel commented.

"I'm glad you like it, it's the latest in Solarian fashion, I wouldn't have my friends wear anything other than the finest in fashion to a date or any other outing of social standing" Stella stated.

"It's unusual seeing an outfit like thing without a plate cuirass over it and a Morian helmet on my head, I've seen the royal guard of Solaria and their professional infantry wear garb like this, but I've also seen worn by Estalian and Tilian Conquistadors and Spanish conquerors, as well a number of other adventurers and on worlds like Avarnii home to its many warring princes and city states" Erasiel commented on the outfit. "But I personally like it and I'm glad you and I have the same two favorite colors of Purple and Orange" Erasiel followed up.

"Well I'm happy you enjoy it" Stella stated. Time passed and soon everyone was ready to go, Erasiel was impressed by Flora's outfit as it was the same gown she wore to the dance which he first danced with her at not to long after the school year began also the same dance where he and Trix pulled off a prank at Lucius Leary's expense, no one at this point had figured out they had been behind that apart from everyone at Cloud Tower but they weren't going to be talking about that, on top of that the investigation into the death of Pig-face or as his real name was Jorden Warcheg had not born any evidence against him however it had resulted in a number of Red Fountain students, wizards and soldiers culling the numbers of the Beastmen near the school which enraged the bray-herds and caused an increase in Beastmen activity, so far no specialists had died in these attacks but there were some who got severe wounds according to Riven and Artesia who had been on multiple sallies against the Beastmen and had taken their weapons as trophies have had them melted into more practical weapons by the campus smith and sent them home to their families.

Shortly afterward they met up with Brandon alias Sky who wore an outfit typical of an Eraklyion prince on a date, however it wasn't over the top. Erasiel had to keep himself from calling Brandon by his actual name even though he didn't agree with him using Sky's identity to impress Stella he wasn't going to sell him out to her that would come out eventually and he was going to leave it Stella to decide for herself. Anyway, their arrival in Magix city was unnoticed as Erasiel noted the Trix who were obviously head to Hex Café for dinner were out and about. "What do we have here? Hi Nathan!" Stormy greeted.

"Hi Stormy, just on a date" Erasiel explained.

"Well, have fun with it Nathan" Icy stated, the three walked off. The two couples arrived at a restaurant that was relatively fancy, fancy enough to warrant formal wear at any rate, at was requiring a reservation: Erasiel glared at the waiter at the counter when he told that he would have to leave because he didn't have one which he followed up by depositing a gold brick on the man's hand.

"Here take this reservation not required, also I'm a Darkar so take that" Erasiel commented to waiter who had been hurt by said gold brick which Erasiel had forcefully smashed onto his hand, Flora winced at this, but the waiter allowed them to go thru and join Stella and Brandon at the nearby table. Erasiel went thru the menu picked out his usual and picked out some appetizers, when the waiter for their table arrived he required two separate pages, one for Erasiel's order and one for everyone else's orders, he then left and came back with drinks.

"Thank you my good man, keep up the good work" Erasiel stated then drank from his glass of Root Beer.

"Well Nathan this date so far is as eventful as I don't know how many dates have we been on I lost count" Flora stated.

"Twenty-five" Erasiel commented, having kept count of his dates with Flora as well as with the other 75 women he was currently dating/banging.

"Well you sure make an impression that's for sure Nathan" Brandon commented.

"Not as much of an impression as the Trix, you think the Beastmen are mad around Red Fountain they're terrified of Cloud Tower, mainly because every day I have the Trix practice their spells on the Beastmen and the Forest Goblins, I think we may have actually angered a couple of Cygors, but I haven't seen anything from them apart from a few rocks being thrown here and there but fortunately they keep hitting the trees because they're as blind as bats even if there throwing things at magic users" Erasiel responded. "Other than that, not much has been happening at Cloud Tower, anything happening at Red Fountain other than angry Beastmen?" Erasiel asked.

"Actually, there is something, in a couple weeks Red Fountain will be hosting a tournament, to show how good some of the specialists have become" Brandon responded.

"A tournament sounds lively, I'll show up mainly to watch Riven and Artesia kick ass and take names, but I will bring friends, dates, and lovers" Erasiel commented.

"I'm sure it will be interesting, but nothing compared to the grand tourneys on Solaria, specifically Grand Tournament of the Three Suns, last year I won in several events and received my knighthood in the Order of the Radiant Dawn, other than that my skill as fencer reigns supreme I even beat my father in fencing" Stella commented.

"You never told me you were a knight Stella" Flora commented.

"I didn't well my apologizes Flora, I'll remember to invite you to watch me compete in next year's Tournament of the Three Suns, also I have invite to watch me compete in the tournament of the Seven Moons which will be next month on the 20th of December" Stella replied. "And I'll invite you too Sky, and your friends, and Erasiel and his friends, and my Friends, pretty much everyone I have as a friend will be there" Stella commented. The discussions on the latest events and old stories came about the table Erasiel told the story of how he managed to convince a Giantess by the name of Dianne that she was beautiful and told about her beauty and that he had given a magic belt that allowed her to become the size of a normal person and that she married him, he also told the story of how he bested a Sphinx on Whisperia in a game of riddles after solving the Sphinx's own riddle. Flora discussed her latest grades and her plants. Stella discussed more stories of her finesse and skill as a warrior but also about the latest in gossip, while Brandon told stories of questionable glories, well questionable because he was referring to events in which he had been taking part but hadn't actually been the person who accomplished them. Eventually Dinner arrived, Erasiel took the longest to eat as he had ordered several meals of varying things all of them being meat and no vegetables apart from French fried potatoes and mashed potatoes being eaten by him, he also ordered seconds and had about five servings before he was satisfied, by the time he was done everyone else was staring at him as they had long finished their meals. Soon the waiter arrived with the bill

"Your bill sirs and madams" the Waiter stated showing a rather large tab of 2,000 Magix Dollars. Erasiel responded to the bill by pulling out another brick of gold.

"This should cover it, also here's extra for a tip" Erasiel stated depositing another gold brick in the man's hand.

Upon leaving Flora asked, "How rich are you Nathan?"

"I've been around for millennia I come from one of the oldest and most powerful houses in the Magic Dimension, rule thousands of kingdoms and hundreds of empires, I carry a staff that's made of Realix and plated with dwarven gold, I've got more money than I could ever spend, I can afford to be generous" Erasiel responded.

"Do you always carry gold bricks around with you?" Brandon asked.

"No sometimes they're silver, and they are usually there in case my wallet is well low on money in it, sometimes I forget to refill it, so these are just there as collateral" Erasiel stated.

They arrived at the movie theater Erasiel bought two large popcorns one for himself and one for Flora, while also buying other refreshments. "Are you ever full?" Stella asked Erasiel.

"Only after I've eaten about 10 deer, sometimes more, so this is another serving, I may look human but as you can tell by my tail I am Phoenix thru and thru and my true form is much large then this, about the size of a jet fighter and I have a stomach to match" Erasiel commented, picking up the refreshments putting them on a floating tray he summoned then gave their tickets to the man at the counter. The movie was well in Erasiel's opinion good but a bit lackluster, the movie tried to hide who the villain was and what he was planning but Erasiel had the villain's identity and motive figured out quickly, to his surprise though the movie ended in a way he wasn't expecting, he had expected half of the cast to die in the big fight at the end, but only a couple did, and they were minor characters who were quite forgettable.

After the film they left. "That was some movie" Flora commented.

"Yes, it was, it was good and gladly it wasn't a horror flick, so I liked it, it wasn't amazing by any means, but it was good" Erasiel commented.

"What do you have against horror films?" Flora asked.

"The characters in them are extremely stupid, they think it's a good idea to go into the haunted house, do everything that common sense says don't do and when they are brutally murdered in a fashion that Quinten Tarantino would be proud of we say idiots, which is why I don't find them entertaining, trust me Flora if a movie tries to be scary it has to be believable and horror movies simply aren't, if I wanted to be scared I'd walk into a Manticore den and then I'd be scared, but other than that nothing can scare me" Erasiel commented.

They returned to their respective schools and Erasiel went out and found Pulisatilla and Nimeria who were more than happy to provide pleasure before he passed out.


	16. Arc 1 Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Nightmares in the Dark

The week had dragged on and Erasiel had found himself once again in Bloom's room, more dreams with regards to Domino and more often; the most recent involved a battle between her grandfather and the Grand Templar of Lighthaven, the visions kept getting more serious, the source of these however was obvious: Daphne. Daphne had seen all these events and because she had seen them she sent them in Bloom's dreams. This had led to him staying at Alfea whenever they came up, Bloom's dreams didn't come up frequently enough to warrant him staying there permanently but they did happen enough to warrant him staying overnight and awake, not that he needed much sleep as it was, he could go months without needing to sleep as he did in his battle on Domino against the Ancestresses. The evening had faded and Winx had dawned their pajamas or nightgowns and had fallen asleep.

Unaware to Erasiel and to the public at large something was brewing in Cloud Tower, and it wasn't the Trix who were involved with this one rather someone else. In their dorm late two sisters were awake and wide awake at that. They were twins, Ivey the elder twin by two minutes and Vera the junior twin, the two sisters were nearly identical save for three differences hair color, magic, and personality. Ivey had poison green hair while her sister Vera had black hair other than that they had the same hairstyle. Vera was a caster of the lore of Metal while Ivey was a caster of the lore of poisons. Lastly Ivey could be a bit spiteful venomous and ruthless as well vicious and arrogant she was definitely obsessed with Erasiel in a stalker matter and was trying to come up with the best way to lose her virginity with him, she also had an extreme dislike for faeries and specialists and most people that annoyed her, while Vera was generally kind and caring, though like her sister she was obsessed with Erasiel; though this was the norm everyone at Cloud Tower was interested in him and if you weren't you were either living under a rock or not wanting to say it. Both sisters wore their hair in a spiked shape both had grey eyes, both were beautiful, both had the same hourglass figure, both shared similar interest though they wore different outfits: Vera's outfit was more in line with the witch garb and was same as Stormy's witch form but was lime green and had black gloves and lines she also wore a unique hairband that resembled headphones, while Ivey's outfit was more revealing she wore a pink tank top and green sweats, these highlighted her figure she also wore gold triangular earrings, she was also good friends with Shilly.

Right now, the two sisters were in a bit of an argument while Ivey was pouring ingredients in a cauldron. "You can't be serious what did the Faeries at Alfea ever do to us, don't you remember how Musa helped us against the Specialists" Vera argued.

"That was situational, secondly the faeries have looked down on us witches for centuries, I simply intend to give them something to play with and give them a taste of their own medicine" Ivey stated adding a pinch of granite into the Cauldron.

"If you do this I'm telling Griffin" Vera threatened.

"No, you won't because if you do I'll tell everyone about what you at night, how you fantasize about Erasiel as you play with yourself" Ivey retorted.

"You wouldn't besides you do it too and I'll so do about half of the girls here" Vera responded.

"You know I would and I have pictures, I would gladly give them to Erasiel and the Trix, then see how you live that down" Ivey blackmailed.

"All right you can do it but if this goes horribly wrong I'm not taking the blame for not telling Griffin" Vera stated defeated, Ivey smirked she knew her sister would back down if she pressed that issue, she was bluffing of course while she had pictures she would never do something to her twin sister that vile.

Vera went over to her bed and lied down to sleep after changing into her sleeping attire which meant taking off her day clothes and shoes then plumping down in her underwear and stockings under blankets, some being her childhood blankets. As Vera fell asleep Ivey finished putting in the last of the ingredients then began the incantation.

"Asraa Intein Malakoss Zinthos, Shadows of fear plague the mind terror from the night, summon creature of terror stone wake from shadows cold, Bubble double toil and trouble Cauldron burn and Cauldron Bubble. Eye of Warg and horn of Gor, teeth of goblin, blood of crows; make shadows bind and terror real, bring nightmares of steel, make Stella suffer worse of all spare Erasiel from your call. Bubble Double Toil and trouble, Cauldron burn and Cauldron Bubble, Double Bubble Toil and Trouble, Cauldron Burn and Cauldron Bubble. By the pricking of my thumbs something wicked this way comes, Mazar Incarnate Votia Vile, form of terror rise in shadow, spare the witches in your path make this witch laugh, prey on Specialist and Fairy too bring terror thru and thru, sow the shadows on the moon at night and fill their dreams to the brim with fright, Bubble Double Toil and Trouble Cauldron Burn and Cauldron Bubble, Bubble Double Trouble; By the pricking of my thumbs something wicked this come!" Ivey chanted, out of the cauldron a shadow cloud rose followed by the form of a goblin like creature but made of granite stone and with pupil less red eyes: a Nightmare Gargoyle.

The Nightmare Gargoyle let out a mumbled growl then Ivey spoke to it. "Go minion first to Alfea and to the Winx's Dorm room give them nightmares first then do the same with the rest of the faeries and then head to Red fountain and give the Specialists nightmares, then well I'll think of the next step" Ivey stated, the Creature nodded in agreement then turned into a shadow and crept out of the room. "Perfect that will teach Stella to buy the last of the outfits I wanted" Ivey mentioned to herself then she changed into her pajamas which contrary to her personality were actually sweet and covered with pleasant images she then went into her bed and grabbed her teddy bear.

At Alfea… Erasiel was once again sitting on the guest couch in the longue/dining room across from Bloom and Flora's room; he was watching the two sleep mainly Bloom to keep an eye out for the signs of her dreams these usually were convulsions followed by transforming in and out of her Charmix form, she also talked in her sleep at the moment Bloom had only just fallen asleep, Erasiel was fully awake and as vigilant as the sentinel statues in front of fortress of his father in law Hagen who was the father of Zera one of his broodmates but also a master smith that was unrivaled by any save one: Caldatorus the Elder dragon who created the weapons and armor of the Dragon Knights as well as the strongest weaponry and armor, he was also the only dragon he had met so far that wore Glasses which he had made himself.

Erasiel's watch was not however focused on the rooms behind and to the side of him; the Nightmare Gargoyle crept in like a shadow thru the open window of Stella's room it turned into its regular form and crept over Stella's bed and Stella, it let out a quiet shriek and changed shape from the form of a goblin like creature to the form of wolf with the quills of a porcupine. The Nightmare Gargoyle then crept silently out of Stella's room and avoided the vigilant Erasiel by climbing on the ceiling out of his sight. Stella started mumbling in her sleep, in her dream her parents were arguing again, they had divorced a year ago and Stella still considered it the worst part of her life, on top of that the seen shifted and she was a young child in school being teased again for her glasses. Then the scene shifted once more to a fashion competition her outfit was tacky and then shrunk until she was left with nothing on and hiding herself in embarrassment. The worse of Stella's problems was that she couldn't wake up from this nightmare.

The Nightmare Gargoyle crept into Musa's room and breathed on her with a silent shriek and it changed Form again into a cockroach/spider like creature with one eye and sharp teeth. Musa's nightmare was all too familiar the pains of loss from her mother but her mother this time wept blood and wore nothing showing bloody cuts the bleed, on top of it she was half spider having the lower half a spider and eight blood red eyes and kept saying "don't worry mommy's here" as she wrapped her in webbing. On top of that her father laughed at her only he had the head of tiger and lower body of a Scorpion. Musa's pain though was only followed up by Tecna's who's nightmare consisted of her stuck in court with her family dressed in the garb of an Arch-duchess princess as she was the second daughter of King Cryos VII of Zenith and Queen Magnithia Ypsi of Titania, she was being mocked by her older sister Grisellia and light brother Kuran and had to maintain a cool demeanor because every time she would protest Grisellia would beat her. The Nightmare Gargoyle had now taken the form of a brutish three eyed bull and crept over the ceiling into the dorm of Flora and Bloom before breathing on Flora taking her into a nightmare, then Kiko, and finally Bloom assuming a form that was an amalgamation of its previous forms and dawning demonic wings and a long-spiked tail, this time however it was noticed.

Erasiel shot to attention upon seeing the Gargoyle as it hovered over Bloom and sent a Fireball at it, the creature roared in pain then retreated as Erasiel attempted to stick it with Persuasion and Reason it then assumed a shadowy form and fled out a window. "Crap Nightmare Gargoyle" Erasiel stated to himself then came to Bloom: Bloom was in the dreamscape of Domino once again however skeletons danced around her, and the shadowy forms of Ancestral Witches cackled at her. "We finally have you my pretty!" Belladone stated with a malignant grin. Bloom panicked and ran though wherever she went the Ancestresses followed. Erasiel didn't have much time and mumbled an incantation to transfer part of himself into Bloom's dreamscape.

"Bloom it's just a nightmare! You've been attacked a by a Nightmare Gargoyle the only way to wake up is to confront your fears!" Erasiel's voice echoed. Bloom clutched herself.

"How do I do that!?" Bloom asked as she continued running.

"Use the Dragon Flame it will give you strength beyond that needed to break free of the Nightmare, ordinarily I'd advise you to attack head on without fear but since you have the Dragon Flame go all out!" Erasiel chided. Bloom transformed into Charmix then let out a massive dragon in the direction of the Ancestresses.

"I'm not afraid of you three witches! You've been dead for a long time and you're not real just an illusion of my dreams! By the power of Domino and the Dragon Flame I purge you! DRAGON ENERGY!" Bloom roared and changed into an Avatar of fire and let forth a massive tidal wave of fire the Ancestresses screamed a primordial scream and were incinerated. Bloom woke to Erasiel looking at her with a smile. "I did it" Bloom stated.

"Yes, you did now help me with the others!" Erasiel ordered. They moved quickly to Kiko who Bloom's soothing voice broke the vile dreams of wolves chasing him, then they moved to Flora who was tangled in ivy in her dream and being squeezed.

"Flora it's a nightmare you're in control!" Erasiel stated, Flora noted this then thought of Erasiel and he materialized and used fire magic to torch the ivy, Flora woke. "No time to explain, we have to help the others!" Erasiel stated and they went into each room Erasiel rousing Stella from the terrors of her childhood bullies while Bloom and Flora woke Tecna and Musa from their terrors. Soon each of the Winx was gathered around the coffee table in front of the couch and Erasiel was explaining the situation, Stella was wearing her back up glasses as she didn't have time to put on her contacts.

"There is a Nightmare Gargoyle on the loose, I don't know where it came from nor do we have the time to figure that out we need to move fast and wake up the entire school; Bloom you and I will wake Faragonda and pursue the Gargoyle everyone else wake anybody apart from Griselda" Erasiel stated, and they moved out.

The waking of other people proved easy enough making loud noises and explaining the threat Bloom and Erasiel darted into Faragonda's room and Erasiel shouted "Awake! Fear! Fire! Foes come!" this woke Faragonda up. "Nightmare Gargoyle in the school here" Erasiel explained handing Faragonda her glasses she got up and transformed into fairy form, her wings were grand and colored Bright Blue, Gold and Lavender she wore plated armor over a traditional fairy garb.

"Bloom you heard Erasiel there's no time to waste!" Faragonda stated to Bloom who was shocked having seen Faragonda transform for the first time. Soon the school was fully awake, the Winx and Professors gathered together with Erasiel

"This Nightmare Gargoyle has already absorbed several nightmares it's become extremely powerful only the combined strength of myself the Professors and the Winx specifically Bloom will have any chance of matching the creature" Erasiel explained. "Alright the plan of attack have some of the faeries lure the creature into the courtyard once it's there we will attack from all sides our combined might should destroy it" Erasiel stated.

"We must move quickly!" Professor Gelt stated, then everyone moved. Professor Defour notified some faeries and Ahisa, Heidi, Karina, Luna, Priscilla, Katy and Amaryl volunteered to draw the Gargoyle out. They found the creature giving nightmares to Francine and let out a barrage of Magic at the Nightmare Gargoyle, the magic did minimal damage, but it did succeed in enraging the creature and causing it to pursue the five faeries who led it into the courtyard where Erasiel, the Professors, the Winx and other Faeries lay in wait.

"Attack!: Firestorm!" Erasiel casted and the others followed suit.

"Entrapment field!" Faragonda casted and a green set of barriers locked around the Gargoyle.

"Curse of the Midnight Wind!" Professor Defour casted and wind rent the creature.

"Final Transmutation!" Professor Gelt casted and the minerals of the body began to pull creature apart.

"Dragon Energy!" Bloom casted.

"Ripping thorns!" Professor Palladium casted.

"Polymorph form of a Goblin!" Professor Whizgiz casted, Other faeries let out surges of magical spells the Gargoyle fizzled and roared in agony.

"Finally let's finish it off: Convergence of order!" Erasiel casted and everyone else joined in unleashing their magic into the Gargoyle which couldn't hold back the magic further and it shattered into a thousand shards which then disintegrated in shadowy waves. "Light of day" Erasiel casted and the waves dispersed.

"It's over" Bloom stated fatigued.

"Indeed, now comes the matter of where this creature came from" Palladium stated.

"I have my suspicions, oh don't wake Griselda my little princess needs her sleep" Erasiel stated, which caused everyone to laugh even Balthazar Gelt who was hard to amuse.

Erasiel returned to Cloud Tower as the day dawned then went thru the dorms, witches were still asleep and he checked each room for signs of magical rituals, he was relieved to find the Trix passed out asleep and their room having no evidence of magical rituals, he then continued to investigate the rooms until he came Ivey and Vera's room where he found a cauldron that was still bubbling and a book of summoning, Erasiel had found the culprit the only question was which sister. "Morning this is your wake-up call!" Erasiel shouted in a booming voice awaking the two sisters. "I have it on good information: my personal witness in fact that a Nightmare Gargoyle attacked Alfea last night, fortunately the creature didn't kill anyone, and it was destroyed by myself, the teachers and students, however I am identifying a culprit and having seen the evidence for myself which one of you did it" Erasiel stated.

"Me I'm the one who did it" Vera stated lying.

"No Vera don't take the punishment for my wrongdoing, it's my duty to take responsibility for my actions I know you would do anything for my safety" Ivey stated.

"Explain now" Erasiel stated and Ivey explained her plan and that Vera had told her it was wrong, and she hadn't listened.

"I wouldn't have done it if I knew the monster could kill, I just meant to give everyone at Alfea and Red Fountain a scare not hurt them; I'm sorry I'll take full responsibility for my actions and take whatever punishment Mrs. Griffin has for me" Ivey stated.

"Don't worry I won't tell Griffin about this on a few conditions, 1. I want you to apologize to your sister for anything you may have said to her, 2. I want you to stop harassing faeries and realize they aren't your enemies, and 3. I want you to clean up this mess and give me this book I have no idea where you found this book, but it is a dangerous tome and belongs under lock and key" Erasiel stated. Ivey agreed. "Monstrous creatures and how to summon them by Amphoron the Crimson, this is a dangerous book where did you get it?" Erasiel asked.

"From an old man with beard in an orange robe, he said it would make me a stronger witch" Ivey explained.

"I see, I have no idea who this old man was, but I know what has to be done, this is another book for my library of dangerous books that people who have no idea how to use properly: trust me Ivey I've dealt with my share of these and this won't ever be a problem again, now get ready you have a new day of school ahead of you, now I have to wake up the Trix" Erasiel stated and left the room.


	17. Arc 1 Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Heartbreaker

It was a new day on Magix and at Red Fountain Headmaster Saladin was with his daughter Kordatura watching the Specialists spared. Saladin was a tall man with long black hair and who was quite handsome he wore white and gold robes and carried a staff with the carved head of a dragon atop it. Kordatura, sometimes called Kordatura the Cruel, was a tall woman of Amazonian build she towered over her father at about 7ft and she was well-endowed but athletically built she was also beautiful she shared her father's gray eyes and black hair though she kept it shorter then him she wore a coat of plates over a blue and purple blouse and this included plate graves, the armor was made of Relix, what was different about her from her father was that she was a battle-wizard, someone who used spells but was also someone who was a melee combat monster, she held her sword an enchanted cleaver of the two-handed variety it had an indigo blade and golden hilt and cross guard the sword itself was made of Relix and had been made by her husband Erasiel Darkar, Kordatura was the chief marshal at Red Fountain and by that the top fighter at the school as well as the chief teacher with regards to any combat whatsoever as she was a master in every fighting style on offer at the school and some not because she was educated the best. "Well look at them good to see them in shape for the grand exhibition and they are bringing out their best right now" Saladin commented to which Kordatura groaned and then picked up a megaphone.

"Alright you maggots! Listen up; you're not even trying to practice; Sky your posture is terrible; Riven show him what he's doing that is a mistake" Kordatura roared into the megaphone; Sky was immediately knocked off balance and to the ground by Riven who took advantage of his footwork. "Artesia! Your form is off double step and allay!" Kordatura stated and Artesia who was sparing with Brandon parried some attacks with her rapier and then countered to good effect. "That's better Riven! You're getting to cocky! Be patient and see what Bishop does next!" Kordatura barked and Riven patiently waited for her opponent a purple haired man with a pony-tail Bishop to make an attack, he rushed her, and she used his momentum to catapult him into the wall with her shield. "The rest of you! Focus on what you're doing!" Kordatura ordered and everyone did as she said, she turned to her father. "Now they're doing their best; father it's almost as if every year they get stupider, too many of these students are either spoiled nobles or arrogant pricks; the only ones with some decency are those who aren't from high nobility like Brandon over there or Artesia or Riven or Timmy they are the ones who enjoy teaching but even they need to be reminded, and Sky well he's the worse of them all; the way he thinks he's better than the others and the way he looks down on me as if I'm beneath him; sometimes I wish you would let me put some of these pricks in place" Kordatura noted.

"I see, you worry too much about them Kordatura, but I can see where you are coming from and I have devised a strategy to make them perform better; this tournament will count for over 60% of their grades if they fail to acquit themselves well then they will have to explain their failure to you and their parents, also have you readied the Dragons" Saladin responded.

"Yes, I have; their keepers are making sure they're fed and readied for the show; trust me the crowd will surely be impressed" Kordatura. "Also I know my husband will be here so I'm giving these students twice as much hell to preform good; if they do badly it reflects on me; oh I'm wasted on this I miss the days father when we fought thru waves of Light Haveners and Mordan warriors now look at us we are teaching idiots in a school that haven't even seen war; I miss those days it's so dull around here; I wish you would let me take this class Cygor or Arachnorok Spider hunting then it would be enjoyable" Kordatura commented.

"I've told you many times Kordatura Cygor hunting is dangerous and attacking Arachnorok Spiders causes the Forest Goblins to go mad" Saladin commented.

"Fine then; you watch these students I'm going to hunt a Cygor by myself that will be more enjoyable then watching these 'students' if you can call them that practice" Kordatura replied and stormed off.

"She takes more after her mother and husband then me well at least she does what she does well" Saladin stated.

Meanwhile at Alfea…

The time had come for the grand exhibition at Red Fountain and Erasiel couldn't be warier then before: at this event things had a potential to go well or spiral out of control. Erasiel had gotten information from his spies on Eraklyion that King Erendor himself was coming to observe his son at the competition and who was he bringing but of course the prince's fiancé Princess Diaspro of Isis. This meant there could only be trouble mainly involving Bloom, she would find out Sky's true identity and that he had been masquerading as Brandon the whole time for his benefit the only thing that was a problem was what would happen when she did, in most scenarios he saw her ending up in a fight with Diaspro and Sky after her, but there was a huge issue that Diaspro would look down on her, so there was only one thing for it: reveal Bloom's heritage to Diaspro that way she would respect Bloom enough to trust her, as for Sky's lies Icy would make a suitable character witness to expose him, the best scenario he saw was Sky being utterly humiliated and beaten up with Bloom and Diaspro ending up as friends for their mutual hatred of him.

In all those scenarios there was one thing that was difficult to counter: Erendor. Fortunately, Erasiel had leverage: he knew full well why Domino was attacked without warning; Erendor chickened out in front of the Ancestresses when they attacked Havrum one of Eraklyion's largest cities and destroyed it, his failure to warn the people of Domino and fight the Ancestresses and their army had led to the state of Domino at the moment, a frozen lifeless world, the living inhabitants frozen in time with the past glories preserved beneath the ice. That Erendor had been responsible for the fall of Bloom's home world and indirectly responsible for Daphne's horrid state of being was something he wanted to let Bloom know that above all else she was betrayed by someone whom her parent's regarded as a friend: Erasiel knew that Erendor took the actions he did to preserve the lives of the people on Eraklyion but in doing so he had consigned billions of people to a vile fate; he didn't even warn Domino when he could have, instead now the blood of many people on Domino was on his hands along with fates of those frozen in time and most infuriating of all to him: Daphne's fate.

With all this in mind Erasiel was going thru his things looking for one thing in particular; and that was when he found it: the Bracelet; the one Marion had giving to him to give to her child if they fell in battle the one who wore it was rightfully heir: she had been referring to her son Thoren Bloom's twin brother but Bloom was the older of the two twins by five minutes and thus had the stronger claim as the succession on Domino was absolute Cognatic as were a number of other Kingdoms in the Magic Dimension. "At last after 16 years I'll fulfill that promise" Erasiel stated he then walked out the door that lead from his room in his private dimension; the door lead to anywhere he wanted it to and it deposited him in front of the Winx dorm. Erasiel had told the Trix he would meet them at the event and thus had allowed the three of them to do as the pleased: Erasiel held the bracelet which was in a box which had the royal seal of Domino on it.

Erasiel opened the door and found a surprised Flora in front of him; she had been about to open the door. "Hey Nathan, is that a present for me" Flora asked.

"No; it's something for Bloom and it isn't a gift merely something that I should've given her when I found out about her true identity" Erasiel stated then walked past Flora and turned to the next room where Bloom was brushing her hair; the tournament or exposition as Saladin had called it would start in an hour and everyone was preparing for it.

"Hello Bloom" Erasiel greeted and she turned around.

"Oh, hey Nathan what brings you here and what do you have there?" Bloom asked.

"Something your mother wanted you to have, not Vanessa, your birth mother Queen Marion" Erasiel stated and handed her the box, she studied it and noted the royal insignia of a dragon in gold and crimson.

Bloom opened the box and revealed a Bracelet, the bracelet was made of solid gold and decorated with rubies and sapphires; she put it on and it covered most of her wrist, she then noted that the same insignia was on the bracelet that was on the box and runes that also decorated it glowed abnormally. "So, my mother wanted to have this?" Bloom asked.

"Yes she said it should go to her heir, that bracelet was made for your great grandfather by the legendary dwarf master rune smith Thorek Ironbrow; it has a powerful set of runes forged into and allows you to invoke the Rune of wrath and ruin; this bracelet was given to Great-grandfather and passed down to your grandfather after he was murdered by the Grand Templar of Lighthaven along with most of his sons; he gave it your father on his deathbed along with the family sword, shield and armor, and your father gave it to your mother as a wedding gift and she wore it until well before they met their fate, she gave it to me for safe keeping, Bloom what you have there is proof of your royal lineage as only a member of the royal family by blood or marriage can wear that bracelet; anyone in the Magic Dimension that sees that bracelet will regard you with much respect and as the royal heir" Erasiel explained.

"So why are you giving this to me now" Bloom asked.

"Well the reason is only found it recently after going thru my things and the other is that nobility will be visiting at the Red Fountain tournament and there are some who would look down on you otherwise, plus it is a powerful magic artifact something you will have need of in the future" Erasiel answered.

"Alright then so are you going to Red Fountain with us?" Bloom asked.

"Yep" Erasiel answered.

"Good now I've got to bring this hair conditioner to Stella Flora said she would enjoy it" Bloom stated.

"Here I'll take it to her, also you should put that Bracelet on, it is the Bracelet of Honor and it will help to protect you" Erasiel stated; Bloom handed him the bottle to take to Stella and put on the bracelet; the bracelet locked on and fit perfectly as if it was meant to do so.

"Anything else I need to know?" Bloom asked.

"Yes, that Prince Sky's father King Erendor will be at the event along with his mother Queen Samara; also, Princess Diaspro of Isis will be with them you should meet her I'm sure the two of you will make great friends: I have it on a reliable source that she is transferring to Alfea, so she might end up in your dorm" Erasiel responded.

"That's interesting so what do you know about her?" Bloom asked.

"Not that much other that she is Sky's cousin, and that her home the Kingdom of Isis is one of the most powerful kingdoms on Eraklyion" Erasiel stated.

"I thought Eraklyion only had one king?" Bloom asked.

"Eraklyion's royal family rules over a world that is composed of many other kings, princes and warlords, the Royal Family has many relatives and controls directly the largest of the cities and kingdoms while they have married into every other notable house; therefore, they control Eraklyion through intricate politics and a number of interesting things, they also control all of Eraklyion's colonies and thus have the largest armies and most wealth, though this all has a cost" Erasiel stated.

"What cost?" Bloom asked.

"Sometimes the politicking leads to infighting and revolts against the royal family, one bad king can lead to bad heirs and thus another branch of the Royal family would have to or want to assert themselves onto the throne in their place; Princess Diaspro has one of the strongest claims as King Erendor is her uncle and her father is his older brother who gave up the throne a desire for other pursuits and that he had enough trouble managing Isis let alone the whole planet" Erasiel commented.

Later that day… Erasiel had made sure that he had the top seating and that was as close to the royal family as possible something that his position allowed him to pull off. His efforts required though to follow the royal party which was doable but that would require a bit of subtly which fortunately because of millennia of experience was something he had in abundance; chiefly involving the arts of making sure the Winx wouldn't wander off. Finding the Trix was easy as they had waited exactly where he expected them to. "Come on let's get our seats, I've managed to get the best ones in the competition, no wandering off" Erasiel stated and everyone followed him without much complaint; they made their way to the seating which was next to a set of reserved seats that had been specially decorated with signs that explained who they were reserved for. "Bloom you sit here next to me" Erasiel stated, he managed to get Bloom to sit next to himself but also the place where Princess Diaspro would be sitting, on his other side Icy sat next to him and wrapped her arm around his, the crowds filled out the seats beneath them.

Then they saw the arrival of the Royals, which was heralded by trumpeting heralds. "Hail to his Majesty King Erendor IV of Eraklyion father of Prince Sky and his wife Queen Samara; hail also to Princess Diaspro of Isis and betrothed to Prince Sky" The crier shouted. Everyone turned to view the monarchs and their royal retinue: four halberdier guards stood to either side of each member of the royals they were clad in blue plated armor and had warpaint under their eyes; on their heads they wore salat helms which were made of the same blue alloy. At the center of the group was King Erendor a big bellied man with dark brown hair. He was clad in royal clothes, which consisted of a crown made of gold with a large diamond shaped ruby in the center, short red robes, a cape and tan pants he kept tucked into his knee-high brown boots. To his side was a young a beautiful woman who was about the same height as Erendor she was Queen Samara and had long red hair, light green eye shadow, wears a gold tiara with a light green, gold and light green earrings - shaped like layered triangles. She wore a light green dress with a short dark green poncho, as well as circular framed glasses with gold frames. The last of these three was the youngest and the one who was about the same age as the Winx; Princess Diaspro. Diaspro had wavy and curly pale blonde hair, citron orange eyes and medium to tan skin. She wore a red-and-ivory colored corset dress with puffy sleeves and two light purple swirly bracelets that traveled up her forearms, with this was a fur cape of similar design. She also wore a light purple silver headband tiara, which was probably adamantine Erasiel guessed, with a large red jewel that was a jasper, contributing to her name; Diaspro being another name for jasper. The party moved down from the entryway and took their seats Diaspro sitting next to Bloom. "Who are you and what are you doing here" Diaspro asked Bloom.

"I'm Bloom Fairy of the Dragon Flame and the Princess of Domino and before you say you don't believe me I have this to prove it" Bloom responded showing her bracelet to Diaspro.

"Well another Princess good you are more than welcome to sit by me you must tell me your story and how you got the bracelet" Diaspro responded in a tone of serious interest, she wasn't entirely sure whether or not to believe this girl who was about the same age as her however the bracelet was too unique not to be genuine and replicas of Royal artifacts from Domino were impossible to acquire apart from going to Domino itself or to the moons of the world where some replicas and genuine artifacts could be found.

"Well it all started when it was very little when I was a baby Domino was attacked and my parents weren't on it when it was but my sister Daphne, Erasiel, and my adopted guardian Vanessa were there, they tried to take me to Solaria but they were blocked from escaping by the Ancestral Witches so Vanessa and her Faceless Lighthorn took me to a world called Earth a place where magic is well regarded as fiction and there I was raised until I met Princess Stella of Solaria fighting an Ogre and some Ghuls and helped her; well I say helped lightly my use of magic at the time was complete random and surprised me Stella did much of the work am I right Stella" Bloom explained.

"She is right I did do most of the work though without Bloom I'm sure that ogre would have made off with my Ring" Stella commented from her seat next to Icy.

"I only recently found out about my heritage from Erasiel some time ago about a couple months actually and he gave me this bracelet today as he only remembered it" Bloom continued then turned to Erasiel.

"Don't worry I wasn't holding onto it until today I mean in keeping it from you Bloom, it just took me a while to find where I put it; I have a lot of and I mean a lot of things so it takes me a while to find stuff especially if it's a magical artifact I have two places for those: one for safe for general use and one for dangerous keep away from ignorant, stupid, or insane mortals and immortals" Erasiel commented.

"He's a Phoenix" Icy commented.

"I could tell by the tail" Diaspro responded. "He's also handsome shame I'm betrothed to Prince Sky" Diaspro continued, at this Bloom gasped.

"You're betrothed to Prince Sky? Stella did you know about this?" Bloom asked.

"No, I didn't wait so- THAT CHEAT!" Stella responded with anger on her face.

"Wait are you saying that my fiancé has been going behind my back!?" Diaspro asked Bloom.

"Yes, apparently he has been: I can't believe it; he's a double timer he's been seeing my best friend behind your back and on top it he kept it a secret from her" Bloom responded.

"That lecherous fiend! When I get my hands on him he will pay! Thank you Bloom for telling me this information when I get my hands on him I'll rip his arms out!" Diaspro stated.

"You'll do no such thing" King Erendor stated.

"Oh right: the betrothal's off! I won't marry a man who won't be faithful to his wife much less a man who is a liar!" Diaspro responded indignantly.

"Yes, King Erendor she is right, and you will do well to comply with her request otherwise I'll let slip that secret you've been hiding for the last 16 years" Erasiel commented non-challantly. At this statement Erendor cowed down as that information would get him mauled to death by everyone in the audience.

"Thank you for telling me about this Bloom; I was right about you; your honesty is an important thing I'm sure we'll make great friends at Alfea" Diaspro stated to Bloom. "As for you Princess Stella I'm more than willing to forgive you he lied to you and I'm not going to fault you for believing his lies; I fell for them" Diaspro stated to Stella.

"Well I'm glad you're happy about how this went down" Bloom responded to Diaspro.

"Well it isn't over yet" Diaspro stated.

The show began: the clashing of specialists fighting each other in mock combat with a variety of Phanto weapons left a rather interesting display, each weapon was different, so you could see something as out of place as katana wielder fighting a wielder of a maquietel club or a sica wielder fighting a man with fighting claws. Then came the dragon fights, dragons of various breeds with Specialists riding on top of them clashed in battle. All was going well until Riven began a fight with Prince Sky: the real one that is. "This bout goes on between Prince Sky of Eraklyion and Riven of Altura Riven is holding a steady lead but what's this something is happening in audience" the Commentator rambled.

That something going on was Diaspro jumping out of her seat and transforming into Charmix. "Diaspro Princess! Fairy of Gemstones!" Diaspro yelled and assumed her Charmix form in which she wears a dress with an ivory bodice and a red skirt. She has maroon boots, and a red bracelet and hair piece. Her wings are maroon with red tips. She also wears a headband that is decorated with jewels. Diaspro had a look of rage on her face "I've had it no more of this I'm going to let you have it now Sky!" Diaspro yelled and started flying towards Sky who was noticeably scared. "Crystal Shards!" Diaspro casted and sent out a barrage of white crystalline shards in the direction of Sky who dodged the attack. Riven backed off and got out of the way and Sky used a grapple on his wrist to climb into the audience only to be blocked by Diaspro who incased his lower half in gems "Ruby casket!" Diaspro casted and the trap encased his entire body bar his head. "Now let's see you run away Crystal shards!" Diaspro casted.

"Flame ward!" Bloom casted as she landed in front of Sky the barrier disintegrated the crystals.

"Bloom what are you doing!?" Diaspro stated in anger.

"I'd like to ask the same thing; why are you attacking Brandon?" Bloom asked.

"What do you mean Brandon he's Sky" Diaspro responded.

"Bloom you don't believe her do you" Sky stated.

"Why should she Darko?" Icy stated approaching she had followed Bloom and Erasiel had as well.

"What do you mean Darko?" Bloom and Diaspro asked at the same time.

"I mean what I said; Darko, Brandon and goodness knows what other alias you've gone by Sky!" Icy stated, at this point Sky used his Phanto-Blade to break free.

"You're all nuts!" Sky stated running off.

"Ice Slick" Icy casted causing Sky to trip and fall down the stairs he tried running down.

"You lied to me Sky! I don't know how many Girls you've broken the hearts of over the years but I'm going to end it right now!" Bloom yelled. "Dragon Energy!" Bloom casted.

"Bloom wait!" Erasiel stated but it was too late Bloom had cast the spell however she hadn't aimed it properly and the spell went off course and crashed into a group of priests in white gold robes frying most of them to a crisp. The Entire audience stared at the scene; Bloom with shock on her face and half of the crowd getting ready to get out of their seats.

"Bloom do you realize what you just did?" Erasiel stated.

"I just killed a bunch of people accidently" Bloom responded with tears running down her eyes.

"No, you've done something that is far worse; those people you killed were Lighthaven Priests: now most people here are going to not care about their deaths but their people will: Bloom you've just brought the wrath of Lighthaven down on Magix, you've just started a war!" Erasiel responded leaving Bloom in grief; the surviving priests fled thru a portal they summoned.

"I'm getting out of here" Sky shouted as he ran off, nobody tried to stop him.

An hour later…. Stella had talked with Brandon about the whole incident and he apologized for misleading her and that they had swapped names for security purposes. Stella had broken up with him however on good terms they both agreed that it was a relationship built on a lie and that the relationship wouldn't work out in the long term due to social positions: Stella being the Princess of Solaria and the heir to the throne of Solaria while Brandon was a squire of a minor noble family in service to Eraklyion's royal family. Speaking of the Royal Family of Eraklyion Prince Sky had returned home with his father not willing to take part in the upcoming conflict with Lighthaven; Diaspro had stayed with them. With regards to everyone else they returned to their schools with the exception of Erasiel the Trix and the Winx who now found themselves in Faragonda's office alongside holographic figures of Saladin and Griffin.

"This is a serious incident Bloom I'm of half a mind to expel you for killing those Lighthaveners but doing so would be foolish their deaths weren't intentional on your part and I'm sure Erasiel would completely overrule me from expelling you" Faragonda stated, she was sitting and her desk one hand holding her head in contemplation.

"You would be correct in your assumption Faragonda however the matter of Bloom's punishment must come later; the Light Haven forces will be readying themselves for a crusade; no doubt the Grand Templar himself will show his face to deal with the matter of the schools; we must make a stand, the schools will be besieged also there is the matter of the city of Magix however the Lighthaveners will ignore the city until they've dealt with the schools as we know from experience and over 25,000 years of war that they like neutralizing all resistance before purification" Erasiel stated. "Therefore, I devise a strategy of defense: we will fortify the Schools and bulk up, I leave the defensive planning to you three for the moment I'll see what I can scrounge up in terms of allies, traps and anything that can allow us to win; ultimately the strategy is the kill the Grand Templar if he dies they will surrender and negotiate peace terms" Erasiel finished.

"A sound plan Erasiel however can we not negotiate with them already" Saladin inquired ever the diplomat.

"This is Grand Templar Arsonious we are talking about Saladin; he isn't the type to negotiate anything short of surrender or die" Griffin stated.

"My sister is correct the only option we have is to fight now Erasiel what do you have in terms of things that can be done to hinder the Lighthaveners and who should we call for aid" Faragonda stated.

"Well in terms of allies I can send messages to King Wulfstan and the Dwarves; they hate the Lighthaveners with every fiber of their being and I have a marriage to King Wulfstan's daughter Aida. I can also call for Queen Ylaya and my own subjects among the Dark Elves in Ygg-Chall, it will take some time for them to get their armies together and to get here but their forces will be able to allow us to beat back Lighthaven if we can kill the Grand Templar, as to other allies we have the Undines in Black Mud Swamp; they may not be the best fighters but they are unpredictable opponents and good scouts; as for anyone else I think I can agitate the Beastmen into fighting the Lighthaveners for us; they won't be able to stop them by any means but they can sure slow them down; also I can do the same with Goblins in both the Forests and Swamp" Erasiel stated.

"The Dark Elves and Dwarves are reliable, the Undines an interesting choice in allies it's been a long time since they've come out to war; the Goblins and Beastmen however they are unpredictable at best and hostile at worst" Saladin stated.

"We have limited options in terms of allies Saladin; the ones we have that are closest to Magix are the ones I've listed the only other options would be the Princes of Domino's kingdom, but they'll only fight for their rightful leader; anyone else is too far away or too busy with their own threats to help" Erasiel stated. "I'll will of course do everything in my power to help; I can't exactly bring this matter before the Wizard's council by the time they finish debating about helping us it will be too late" Erasiel stated.

"So, we are in agreement?" Saladin stated.

"Yes" Griffin stated.

"Yes" Faragonda stated.

"Good then let us make ready for war." Erasiel stated.


	18. Arc 1 Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Gathering Storm and Battle for Red Fountain

The preparations for defense of the Schools were rather interesting: Specialists, Witches and Faeries moved between the three schools to allow a balanced defense. Red Fountain however was the weakest of the three schools and according to Erasiel the one that was going to fall regardless as it would be the center of attention for Lighthaven it being the sight of the incident that had sparked this conflict. Therefore, in light of that fact Erasiel had devised a plan of scorched earth: using Red Fountain as a giant trap to kill a large part of the Lighthaven army by blowing it up. Saladin was reluctant to go along with this plan but Erasiel convinced him that it was the best strategy and that he would completely pay for the rebuilding of the School out of his own pocket and would rebuild it to be thoroughly overhauled and protected from any future attacks.

"Stormy you and the other weather casters begin your casting we will want as nasty a storm as possible for the Lighthaveners" Erasiel ordered.

"Ready: Grand Dragon Hurricane!" Stormy casted, a number of witches and faeries followed suit and lent their own magic to the spell, Erasiel used his own powers to make sure the storm focused on the Lighthaveners pouring all his hatred for them into the spell.

Meanwhile…. On the world of the Lighthaveners their capital world of Holy Sornda, a massive army gathered together ready to fight, at the center of the army was a large pavilion in which the Lord Templars gathered in council for battle. At the center of the group was the Grand Templar himself: Arsonious Zornath. The Grand Templar was a giant of a man standing about 7'3; he was old but physically fit he had a long white beard and had a proud face which was scarred with years of experience and battle; he wore an armored white, blue, and gold tunic which covered his body down to his knees, over this tunic was a breastplate of the highest quality armor forged by the smiths of Elrath and on it was great red gemstone in a golden belt; on his head he wore a helmet made of the same material and was decorated with gold and topped by a carved figure of Elrath the Greater Phoenix of Light, he also wore a white cape which was locked to large golden open disk that was spiked like a sun, at his side were two large Warhammers of the two-handed variety but he was strong enough to wield both in one hand; these too were made by smiths of Elrath and they were different in design with regards to the head of each hammer. At the side of the Grand Templar were a number of men with various garb with regards to colors but all in the religious fashion of Lighthaven: these men were the Lord Templars who were the highest figures in Lighthaven society apart from the Grand Templar himself and from their ranks the Grand Templar would choose his successor.

"This act of heresy will not go unpunished and it is so that I call a crusade: those Brethren who have come here are those who I've called for this mission; the force we have assembled will be enough to crush the heretics and to purge them: the orders that are to be given is that you are to restrain from killing those taken captive without giving the heretics the option to convert and be reformed in the monasteries; if they do so they are to be taken to the nearest monastery to our army" Arsonious ordered. "Brethren I have a more private matter and that concerns a more important matter: Brothers I am old, and I fear not much longer for this world. Soon I will give up the ghost and return to Elrath's halls: with this said I have called you all here because one of your number will succeed me and the one who will do so will know it soon; In battle your actions will determine which of you will be my successor" Arsonious continued at this the Lord Templars reflected shock then sadness and then solemn respect.

"Brother Marcus, Brother Artaius, Brother Dexter, Brother Cornelius, Brother Lucius, Brother Vernon, Brother Raynauld and of course Brother De Lande, I would ask you now to join me in prayer and look to the portents" Arsonious responded, then the men nodded drew their weapons planted them in the ground, knelt, closed their eyes and began to pray. Their prayers were many and all the while a Faceless spy sent by Erasiel observed their war room and took notes of the men involved before scouting the strength of the army. "E Nomine de Marcus evernas in carnus Elrath orames" the Men stated then continued in the language of prayer.

While the Lighthaveners readied themselves for battle Erasiel was doing likewise he had given Stella instructions to refresh the faeries in sword fighting; now he was in the Dark Woods near Red Fountain, thick forests that were populated by Goblins and Beastmen as well as worse things. Erasiel was searching for the Beastmen in particular and had assumed the guise of a herald of their Dark Gods the four gods of Chaos, technically three gods and one goddess, Erasiel was a master of the tongue of the Beastmen and was seeking out the Beast Lords of each herd within the forest with the goal of mustering them into a Bray-herd bent on destroying the Lighthaveners. He approached each Beast lord and gave them the message to meet at the great herdstone in the heart of the forest, at said herdstone the Bray Shamans and Beast Lords gathered in front of large hosts of Beastmen: Ungors, Gors, Beastigors, Gorghuns, Cygors, Minotaurs and other creatures of their race all gathered to hear the words of the Herald of the Gods. "Children of the Gods: a Great enemy comes to your world, the vile templars of Lighthaven come to exterminate all they deem unworthy before their false gods; the War God demands their blood and skulls, slay only those of Lighthaven; the gods have deemed only they are to be slain, those who are not of Lighthaven the faeries, the witches the goblins, and any not of Lighthaven have been set aside for a later day far from now, the time has come ready the herds time for war!" Erasiel ordered in their dark tongue. "Of your rank the mightiest has been chosen of the gods Gordos Strong-Gor has been chosen to lead this herd; ready yourselves for battle" Erasiel ordered, at this the largest of the Beast Lords a towering 8 foot Gor with massive horns and clad in Chaos plate roared in his tongue and then pulled out a horn and blew it, through the woods other horns blew and those not in attendance to the meeting came ready; the orders from the dark herald among their ranks.

Erasiel vanished from their sight and then said to Kerborg "That was perfect just as planned, a perfect pain for the Lighthaveners to fight" they both laughed at the thought. Erasiel continued on to the next stage: fortifying the main route by which the Lighthaveners would have to take to get to either Alfea or Cloud Tower and that was a place he was quite familiar with since he had gone into it a lot during the past few months: the Black Mud Swamp. In the swamp he spoke with Queen Ninovee and explained the situation to her; the Undines were all too happy to help fulfilling the role of scouts and irregulars; Lusiz lead their forces alongside her mother. Erasiel then warned the Goblins that they would soon be invaded by "crazed hummies for dem to fight" and they took him at his word; he did this for every tribe in the swamp, everything was falling into place quite nicely.

Erasiel returned to Cloud Tower to find the Trix among a group of senior witches plus several faeries and Specialists. "Well what have we here?" Erasiel greeted.

"These are our troops; or should I say the defensive line; Griffin gave orders for senior Witches to take command of groups; We chose the best and brightest at Cloud Tower" Icy responded, Erasiel could see a number of the best Witches: Vera, Ivey, Shilly, Samantha, Tabitha, Endora, Pusilitia, Nimeria, and the three sisters Euphorbia, Ververine, and Gebera.

"Though we could have done better on the front of our other troops" Darcy commented turning to the faeries and specialists; some of which Erasiel recognized mainly Lolina, Emily and Anastasia and among the specialists Riven was the only recognizable face to him.

"I can see; well here are my instructions: you are to fight the Lighthaveners however if they defeat you let them capture and tell them you'll repent otherwise they'll burn you alive: second point make sure you kill as many of the vile bastards as possible" Erasiel stated. "Third point above all else make sure those of you who are strong enough to hold them back and allow others to retreat; above all else don't let Cloud Tower fall" Erasiel concluded, Stormy returned with the other casters and fell in line with her sisters group. "I've seen to arranging as many obstacles for the Lighthaven army as possible but I'm still not confident in our chances; I've been in worse situations, but this is definitely a very hard battle and one were we are quite out of our league: I need to discuss strategy with you three in private" Erasiel stated and the Trix stepped aside and they walked off to a nearby room and locked the door.

"First things first I need to tell you something important; it is vital that you three survive, don't fight to the death if you are out of your league; let them capture you and I will rescue you three: what is important it you three staying alive; the lives of many people, those here and countless others you've never met, are at stake and you three are among the few who have the ability to make a difference in the wider landscape of the Magic Dimension; you three need to stay alive most importantly I promised your mother I would keep you safe and I would lay down my life to protect you three more than one of them if I have to" Erasiel stated, the Trix looked at him with genuine concern and love.

"You're serious: Well if it comes to that we'll do as you ask" Icy stated.

"Damn I wanted to go out in blaze of glory if I had to, well then I'll do it but only for you Nathan" Stormy stated.

"I agree with my sisters" Darcy stated.

"Good now I'm going to need a few witches I have a plan; when the Lighthaveners attack Red Fountain, I'll need a rearguard force specifically to make sure the explosives are set: I'll hold back the army while my elite team of faeries, specialists and witches prime the explosives" Erasiel explained.

"Well we chose for our team the best of the bunch, so I think we can spare a few for an elite force, but we'll need the rest to hold Cloud Tower so look around and pick your team" Darcy responded and Erasiel left the room and chose a number of witches.

Erasiel's team consisted of Endora, Nimeria, Polly, Tabitha, the Three sisters Euphorbia, Ververine, Gerbera, Hecate and Pusilitia. Pusilitia was beautiful, just like most if not all the Witches of Cloud Tower, had short white hair, a slightly tanned skin tone, dark purple eyes with plum eyeshadow and dark red lips. She wears a dark peach blouse with brown trousers, an orange belt, and orange boots, her figure was that of the Trix and of all the other girls present save Endora who was more endowed then the others, her magic was that of the lore of metal like Vera. Nimeria was also beautiful her skin was an Asian cast, had Indigo pixie cut hair, sea blue eyes and blood-red lips, she wore a crimson dress which left her shoulders bare but had sleeves that covered her arms it also had a black gem in the center of the gown and two large black stones on her belt, with this she wore red pumps and purple lace stalked, she used shadow magic and metamorphosis magic in battle. Hecate was a lovely witch with grey eyes short blonde hair with two strands down the sides, a blue headband, red lips, pink earrings, a short light blue shirt, dark blue jeans, and red boots. Polly was a gorgeous witch who had deep purple hair which she wore in a bun as well as deep purple eyes her skin was white, and she had purple lips, she wore a red outfit of similar design to Nimeria's only hers had sleeves that covered her shoulders, her shy demeanor concealed the fact that she and Erasiel had been banging for months now, her magic controlled slime and other liquid substances. Tabitha had tanned skin, dull purple hair that coil up into two large curls on each side of her head, greyish-purple eyes, lavender lipstick and purple eyeshadow. Her outfit comprised of a rather revealing black bralette, an army green-colored jean skirt bound by a grey belt and dark grey boots. She has noticeably long nails that are painted in the same lavender color to match her lipstick and two diamond-shaped earrings. Her magic revolved around shadow magic and smoke and fragrances she also had some skills in energy magic and could use beams of energy to attack her opponents. She and Erasiel also recently had started a sexual relationship in which he had taken her virginity. Then came the Three sisters Euphorbia, Ververine and Gebera: Euphorbia was a light skinned girl with dark red pinkish hair and lipstick of the same color. She had bangs and two straight strands on each side of her head. Her eyes are blue. Euphorbia wears dark eyeshadow, a light blue cropped shirt with a big collar, two brown bands on each of her arms, khaki baggy pants, and high-heeled light brown boots. Her sisters were different: Ververine and Gerbera both had Blonde hair of differing lengths; Ververine's hair was long and flowed down half her back and had pronounced bangs of shoulder length on either side and brush like in the center, while Gerbera's was shoulder length and smoother. Ververine wore a maroon blouse skirt overlapped with transparent blue fabric and maroon pants while Gebera wore a green sweeter and blue pants. All three sisters used weather magic and had along with Stormy and a number of others created the great tempest that was raging outside the schools, this storm was designed to give the Lighthaveners a very bad time but not hinder the defending forces or their allies, it would not also hinder flyers be they living or vehicles.

With this team Erasiel proceeded thru a portal to Alfea to gather the faeries for his team and this team was a given: The Winx Club. Erasiel instructed the witches to remain outside while he explained the situation to the Winx. Erasiel entered the Winx Dorm where he was greeted by the newest member of the club and newest member of the dorm: Diaspro, who wore an orange blouse and white skirt she still wore the mithril tiara that signified her position as a Princess.

"Hey Nathan, nice to see you here: I've been invited to join the Winx by Bloom and after that incident at Red Fountain the other Winx were keen to agree" Diaspro explained and Stella came up from behind and stood alongside her.

"Also, she's my roommate; we've already made sure to set things up, not much to do with that storm outside" Stella greeted, she wore her Rapier Solaria's Light at her side. "Well apart from teach Bloom in the finer aspects of sword fighting she has proven herself a skilled swordswoman" Stella stated indicating her sword.

"Well good to see everyone's getting along and Bloom is improving we'll need everything we can get to win this War for Magix" Erasiel stated. "Anyway that is beside the point; I have it on good intel the Lighthaveners will soon arrive and thus I am in need of your help Winx: I am putting together an elite team of Witches, Faeries and Specialists for the most important task in battle of Red Fountain: the Rearguard who will allow the evacuation and prime the explosive trap for the Lighthaveners; I've already selected my witch team and now I'm in need of my fairy team I couldn't think of any better Faeries for the job then the Winx" Erasiel explained.

"Great something to actually do" Musa stated coming up from her room, the other Winx fell in beside her.

"Good now get your things; I'll need you at your best for this mission" Erasiel stated.

Meanwhile… Outside Red Fountain about 3 miles away from it a large Gateway appeared this gateway was a circular disk which as golden on the rim; the image of a landscape was projected and out from this gateway marched the forces of Lighthaven: a Golden and white clad host that to appearances looked to be a force of good however appearances can be deceiving, the hearts of madness were at the root of the beliefs of the Lighthaveners: the madness of intolerance and a desire to destroy those who they deemed either unworthy or inferior or an abomination; these crazed religious fanatics had no value for the lives of innocents nor did they agree with the laws of warfare: they believed that those they deemed as heretics or infidels were beneath them and that they could do any vile deed to them and it would not be considered a crime nor a sin. In the hearts of these religious fanatics all who they considered to be impure either had to be cleansed or destroyed: their ideology could be summed up in three simple words: Convert or Die.

This host consisted not just of humans but of other Elves and Gnomes who believed in their twisted views, Ogres who being simple creatures of mind could be melded into believing their beliefs, Giants tamed for war and clad in suited of full plate and carrying massive swords, creatures of light, Wargs of great size, Griffons tamed and ready for battle, and towering great beasts that resembled rhinos. This force was fronted by flagellants: crazed fanatics who had sinned and for their penances whipped themselves and desired to meet their end in battle; they wielded crude to mediocre weapons and little to no armor they were the fodder and meat shields of the army used to protect the more valuable troops. Those mainline warriors were the Sentinels: clad in quality Brightshard Steel full plate armor they wore helmets that concealed their appearances and wielded spears as their main weapons with a longsword as a backup and carried a tower shield, among these officers wore armor which was ornate and decorated with brass. This mainline was augmented with crossbowmen who were clad in similar garb but whose bolts would be near useless against wards. Then came the War monks, monks who wore plate armor that covered their body apart from their shaved heads on which they wore plate headbands which were enchanted to block attacks. Behind these were the Crusaders veteran infantry who wore stronger armor and resembled knights but were not to be confused with the knights which were the cavalry and rode horses, the crusaders wielded swords and morningstars. Then came the War Priests and Inquisitors they wore armored robes and carried swords and book of prayers which allowed them access to the magic of Lighthaveners or blessings and miracles as they called them, the Inquisitors were more elite and wore helmets instead of hoods to signify their rank their robes were also orange and red instead of yellow and blue and over their armored robes they wore pure Brightshard cuirasses and they were the ones who wielded the morningstars. Then came the true Elites of Lighthaveners their Battle Brothers and Templars; Battle brothers were the elite of Priests and Inquisitors who wore full plate made of pure Brightshard and carried Warhammers and shields; they had the strongest of battle prayers bar the Templars and chanted hymns to inspire and heal their warriors, they also had a mounted contingent on horseback, on Wargs, and on Griffins, the armor was silvered and shined like the dawn. The Templars wore better armor this armor was blue and made of plundered Mithril and Brightstone, then carried halberds and great swords and wore crested helms they towered over all others being about 8 feet where the standard soldier was around 6 feet. But above them all were the Exalted: these warriors had the wings of angels and had been blessed by Elrath they had access to the lore of Light and wielded Great swords in either hand or great Warhammers in either hand, they were clad in heavenly plate and flew over the infantry line.

"Warriors of Lighthaven the time has come: We go to battle and will convert our foes or well will purify them with fire!" Grand Templar Arsenious roared, then he unveiled his true form that of an exalted clad in golden heavenly armor upon which a red gem covered his heart, his face was obscured by a golden helmet bar his mouth and beard and he wore a great mantle with a radiant disk atop it and in either hand he wielded the two Warhammers: Purifier and Havenguard.

The Lighthaveners march was slow and miserable, they approached Red Fountain but as they approached in column of march they heard the sound of War horns and the roars and battle cries of the Beastmen who came charging out of the forests to slam into the Lighthaven army. Battle was joined and the clash of steel on steel was heard along with crashing of rocks and hooves of Beasts. This battle was the first of many to come and one in which the Beastmen would gain early blows before being fought off however no matter how many Beastmen the Lighthaveners slew more came.

At Red Fountain atop a battlement overlooking the courtyard and looking out into the lands beyond Erasiel studied the battle he could see in the distance, alongside him were the Professors of Red Fountain two women and three men: Kordatura "the Cruel" who was teacher of combat training and tactics as well magical beasts and how to fight them, Zatura who was Saladin's ex and the school's instructor on magic for the tutoring of the Wizards who were the minority of the school, Nafni Rockcrusher a Dwarf rune smith who instructed the students in the use of runes and other battlefield augments, Gorzag Steelripper a Orc Battlemage who instructed the battle mages who were more common than the wizards but not a numerous as the specialists, and Illon Martag; a Human battlemage who served as the historian and teacher of tactics. They were all dressed for battle.

Of the five Gorzag towered over the rest at an impressive 8 feet as was typical of an orc of his age, his hair was short and black his tusks were clean along wit he rest of his teeth, his green skin was dark, he wore white and orange armor decorated with the imagery of Da Bloody Sun and Da Bad Moon, at his back was a great sword that he could wield with one hand due to his strength as well as his helmet and a cape, he wore a sash with the symbol of Red Fountain: three figures a Warrior a Battle Mage and a Wizard. He was a skilled caster in the lore of Big Waagh! The Lore of Winds and the lore of Beasts, for an orc he was off the breed that were more like humans and more civilized then their fungoid kin, this breed of orcs and Goblins were created by Asha the Greater Phoenix of Order and Phoenix Queen, Sylvanna the Greater Phoenix of Nature and Ylath Greater Phoenix of Air they had more in common with humans then their fungoid cousins and could reproduce in same way as humans instead of the fungoid reproduction of their more savage and warlike kin, they also had females though the females had strong connections to magic then the males. Nafni was a Dwarf of clan Rockcrusher: he had a great orange beard and wore an anvil shaped helm on his head engraved with runes as well as Rune covered adamantium armor, at his side was a hammer for striking the runes and his axe which like his armor and hammer was rune forged and glowed blue on the blade. He was one of the older of the five and had served under Grandmaster Rune-Lord Motsignir Angrund and had been the personal Rune smith for King Wulfstan during the war of the Ancestresses when the King was still a prince and his Father Tolghar was High King. Zatura was a very shapely woman with a tanned skin tone and long, curly black hair that flows down to her waist. She has dark grey eyes and wears dark blue makeup; most notably, dark blue eyeshadow and lipstick, her clothes can be described as fairly revealing. She wears a small black top that is pretty similar to a bikini top with a blue stripe that runs down the middle of it horizontally. Her top barely connects to her long black skirt that stops just above her knees and flows down to the ground from behind. The inside of the skirt is blue and Zatura wore matching blue laced heels. She also wore black and blue-striped arm and wrist-bands, long blue earrings, and her fingernails were long, sharp and blue. Her relationship with Saladin ended when he announced his marriage Elthatora one of the Daughters of Arcadia and the younger sister of Griffin Eritrude, Zarathusa, and Faragonda, Zatura resented him for years until she fell in love with and married Erasiel; she took the job as the School's magic instructor as she was one of the most powerful witches in the Magic Dimension and had an absolute hatred for Lighthaveners. Kordatura was Kordatura; the daughter of Saladin and Elthatora and the wife to Erasiel; she was clad in her armor as normal and leaned on her giant cleaver. Illon was an experienced mage and one of the former students of Erasiel at Graynor he was a cleanshaven young man (Note that he was over 10,000 years old) with short black hair over which he wore a red and gold wizard's hat, he wore plate made of mithril and over that a red and gold tunic similar to a toga, in his hand he carried a pearl staff with rub atop it and as his side a curved sword of elven make as well as a spell book at his side and a red cloak.

Saladin approached the six of them. "Have they arrived?" Saladin stated, he wore crimson and blue-plate armor instead his typical white robes and a winged helm on his head in his hand he carried his staff but at his side was a sword and on his back a great-axe both were of dwarven make, he also wore a red cloak.

"Yes, they have" Erasiel stated turning to face his friend, Erasiel had donned the armor he wore in the War of Ancestress while he was in the Company of Light, it was a Relix Lorica Segmentata armor over a suit of plate armor at his side were his two Falchions Persuasion and Reason on his back was Judgement his Great-Falchion and a red cloak, on his head was his helmet armet with eyeguards and a metal plume across, these bore the symbol of Asha, the symbol of Balance, the Symbol of the Company of Light, the Symbol of the Dragon Knights, the Symbol of Wizard's Council, the Symbol of the Order of the Red Cloak and most importantly of them all the Crest of House Darkar. In his hands he held his staff.

"Then we must prepare the evacuation, myself the Professors you Erasiel and your hand-picked team will act as the rearguard alongside the bulk of campus security to allow the evacuation" Saladin stated, Kerborg returned and landed on Erasiel's shoulder.

"I've seen the Army arrive its massive three legions of the Lighthaven Fanatics and fortunately for us they are under attack by the Beastmen" Kerborg explained to everyone in attendance.

"Excellent we have more time enough to allow for a full evacuation" Saladin stated.

"I told you the Beastmen would be an useful 'ally' I say in air quotes, they may not stop the Lighthaven army, but they'll slow them down, all we need is slow their advance for three days and then the armies of our allies will arrive" Erasiel stated.

"The plan seems to be working so far; I'm not certain it will hold up" Zatura stated.

"Well let's hope it continues to work; are the campus security ready; if anything, we want them to be on the front lines and not the students; their veterans of wars the students aren't" Erasiel commented.

"Indeed, they are ready" Saladin stated.

"Summon everyone to the courtyard who will be defending: I'd like to give them an inspirational speech" Erasiel ordered. Everyone nodded at that. Erasiel then casted a spell it caused the storm clouds to appear blood red. "Just for atmospheric effect; if its war we have let them see it" Erasiel stated.

Later… the rearguard force had gathered in the courtyard save Erasiel's Elite Team of 20, the Professors and Saladin who stood at his side. "Men and Women of Red Fountain: We stand here on the edge of battle; the deep breath before the plunge, this night the battlefield will be stained in the blood of Lighthaven and hopefully few of you; I know you would all defend Red Fountain to the last but that is not our goal; we are here to kill as many of the Lighthaven bastards as possible then get out of here before the place blows up, I know you all lament that we must destroy Red Fountain to have victory but that is the only option; it can't stem the tide this close of the Gateway and other the three schools it is the weakest in terms of defenses due to its lack of magic defenses, therefore we all have a goal, hold back the enemy while the others evacuate, as soon as they have left we will prime explosive charges set thru out the school to explode then we will retreat and escape via the remain ships, leaving the Lighthaveners to be decimated by the explosion, We must make our stand we will destroy as many of our vile foes as possible; I must remind you what is at stake; should all three schools fall nothing will be able to hold back the tide from Magix City; all those innocent people and all the places you know and love in that city will be burned with fire if we don't stop them; we have three days that we must hold before our allies will arrive: we will slow down the Lighthaven army as much as possible; I will be the first one in the fight and last to retreat; also a warning: DO NOT under any circumstances confront the Grand Templar himself if you do that is suicide off the people here only I stand the best chance and those up here stand the next best chance. Now sharpen your minds ready your arms and get ready for battle! TO WAR! FOR MAGIX!" Erasiel spoke and the roaring cry of For Magix went up from the crowd.

"Alright we're ready!" Nafni shouted.

An hour later… most of the Students and faculty and irreplaceable stuff had been evacuated on the transports before the Lighthaven army came into full view; their cries of battle roared, and their armor was fresh stained in the blood of Beastmen. Erasiel stood atop the wall. "Let the show begin: Akhum's Mindrazor!" Erasiel casted and a surge purple energy bathed his palms. "Purple Sun of Xereus!" Erasiel casted and great purple sun appeared and spun into the Lighthaveners pulling hundreds up into the purple vortex to be disintegrated. "Had enough just warming up: here have storm of fireballs; Flame Storm!" Erasiel taunted and casted and great cloud let loose a barrage of fireballs down on the Lighthaveners melting armor like wax and men like marshmallows.

Then Gorzag stepped up and raised his right palm like he was taking an oath. "Curse of the Da Bad Moon!" Gorzag casted and great green miniature moon appeared with a jaw of teeth and menacing teeth and began swallowing the Lighthaven warriors whole. "Ere we go!" Gorzag casted and all the defenders felt a surge of energy run thru their body. "Transformation of Khadan!" Gorzag casted turning a nearby hill into a Manticore which terrified the Lighthaveners as well as Erasiel though he didn't panic like they did and breathed a sigh of relief when it was killed by a Siege Giant. The other teachers thru in a variety of spells causing the ranks of the Lighthaveners to thin, though despite their magic the Lighthaven forces showed no signs of either stopping or running out of numbers.

"Endora take the other Witches and ready to cover the causeway, Artesia you and your team see to it that the others make out to their Transports then ready the explosives; Winx you're with me, they've brought up their artillery and we need to snipe that before it can open up on our transports" Erasiel ordered.

"Magic Winx Charmix!" The Winx shouted and they began to transform.

(It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the power of Charmix and you will shine Bright Spread you're wings and fly Light it up the Sky its easy if you try It's the power of Charmix. It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky!) "Bloom fairy of the Dragon Flame" Bloom shouted as she transformed.

(If you want to go far, never give up on your dreams! Because you know you're wonderful just the way you are! Deep inside your heart there is the power of a Winx just close your eyes and let it shine!) "Flora Fairy of Nature" Flora shouted as she transformed.

(It's the power of Charmix your magical light the power of Charmix and you'll shine bright, spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's easy if you try!) "Stella fairy of the Shining sun!" Stella shouted.

(Every day on the edge you know what you've got to do, just give your best and you will see! You'll never be unknown! We are all for one! Burning Brighter than the Sun! Just Close your Eyes and we will shine!) "Musa Fairy of Music!" Musa shouted as she transformed.

(It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's easy if you try! It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! Charmix!) "Tecna Fairy of Technology!" Tecna shouted as she transformed.

(This is what you are and now you're a powerful Fairy! Irresistible! You will be the Star! Come Fly with the Winx! It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's the power of Charmix!) "Diaspro Princess! Fairy of Gemstones!" Diaspro yelled as she transformed. The Winx assumed a pattern around Erasiel.

"Let's go!" Erasiel shouted and they flew in a loose formation. "Gale Wind of Urshu" Erasiel casted and blue barrier of wind deflected massive volleys of crossbow bolts which had been fired up at them, they flew over a sea of Lighthaven warriors tell they came to a large hill which overlooked the army on which trebuchets and ballistae were being set up. "Bloom now: Flamestorm!" Erasiel casted and let out a barrage of fire down on the artillery.

"Flamestorm!" Bloom casted unleashing the same spell she felt a drain on magical power though and started to loose altitude.

"I meant use your own fire spells Bloom, don't use advanced magical spells that are way above your current skill and magic level if you do that you will overload yourself rather quickly" Erasiel stated, as he came to her aid and grabbed to keep her steady.

"Thanks Nathan, I'll remember that" Bloom stated flying back to the same altitude as the rest of the Winx.

"You're welcome, now to make sure those guys don't get back up: Penumbral Pendulum!" Erasiel casted, a great pendulum of shadow energy cut thru rank after rank of Lighthaven soldiers in a straight line before dissipating. They continued the onslaught destroying any and every siege engine they could see, however their attack hadn't gone unnoticed and a figure flew up towards them at first the Winx thought it was one of the griffins they had been so far running circles around but Erasiel yelled "Winx get out of here! That's Grand Templar Arsonious himself!" Erasiel had seen him with his farsighted vision, the Winx withdrew save Bloom who was still drained from her earlier attack, the Grand Templar flew towards them ignoring the running Winx.

"I'm not surprised to see you here Erasiel Darkar it has been a long time my old enemy" Arsonious stated a tone of arrogance underlying his stoic voice.

"I'm not surprised to see you here murderer: you butchered my students you destroyed my classrooms and killed my friends; but that wasn't the worse you raped three of my students and then forced them to watch you burn others alive! Of all the people in the Magic Dimension that are my enemies you are the worst of them; only you have caused such pain!" Erasiel stated.

"I see you haven't changed at all you are still the heretic I remember, and I purified those heathens on Graynor" Arsonious responded.

"Purified!? You call what you did purification: what you did was defile! Defile and Destroy; Millenia of knowledge lost to history, the destruction of the one of the greatest centers of learning; but worse of all young lives; people who had bright futures ahead of them and those who were friends of mine and among that my students; I didn't just teach them I Loved them! I loved them like they were my own children! My own family! And what did you do you vile monster: you tortured them! raped them! And murdered them! You killed my children!" Erasiel railed then lunged at the Grand Templar his staff becoming a glaive and stabbing it into the chest of Arsonious only to have the injury heal moments later and require him to dodge a blow from both of the Grand Templar's Warhammers. Erasiel then casually danced hitting Arsonious with multiple blows from his glaive but each strike which went deeply due to the fact his staff was forged from Relix and could penetrate most armor with ease was healed as if he hadn't struck and the armor repaired itself.

"Dragon Energy!" Bloom casted sending forth a raging dragon spirit of fire at the Grand Templar but this attack though it put Arsonious off balance was again shrugged off.

"So, what have we here: I thought the line of Domino was extinct but apparently I was wrong: Little girl you should fear me; I've seen much of your house and killed many of them: your name by the way" Arsonious responded shrugging off Erasiel's attacks and forcing him to dodge blows from the two Warhammers Arsonious wielded.

"I am Bloom the Princess of Domino: Fireball!" Bloom responded sending a fireball in the direction of the Grand Templar who projected a barrier of light which absorbed the fireball.

"Bloom? The Daughter of Oritel and Marion no doubt: I remember your father the way he wept when I crushed your Grandfather's skull with Purifier and cries of his grief; I let him live only to wallow is his loss, I've battled your line I killed your Great Grandfather and six of his sons and purified three others with fire: and look at you the last of your house: the Ancestresses did a job that I gave them the opportunity to do: your world is now a frozen wasteland your parents dead at the hand of the Ancestresses and your house broken: once I'm done with Darkar I will end that house once and for all" Arsonious responded, Bloom was angry at this news.

"Not if I have anything to say about!" Erasiel responded. "Asha Invictus: Storm of Balance!" Erasiel casted and surge of multi-colored energy sent the Grand Templar flying back downward into a forest of trees. "Come on Bloom" Erasiel stated grabbing her hand, then used the ring on his left hand which turned into a scepter with the figure of phoenix coiled around a gemstone. "Red Fountain" Erasiel shouted and they teleported, landing in the courtyard of the school.

"What did you do: more importantly is the Grand Templar well- "Bloom asked.

"No he isn't dead: I merely overpowered him so we can escape; that trick won't work twice, also before you ask I know it looks like I have Stella's ring I don't this is my own ring though the principle and purpose is the same; Phoenix craftsmanship my own in fact" Erasiel stated then crashing was heard at the walls, the culprit was obvious a Giant clad in full plate and using giant blades to attempt to break down the walls.

"Nathan! Everyone is out: we've set the charges!" Diaspro shouted, Erasiel turned to notice her. "Everyone else is on the ship we need to get out of here" she continued, Erasiel and Bloom didn't hesitate and they followed Diaspro; dashing thru the halls outside they heard the breaking of the walls and gates and the battle cries of the Lighthaven warriors as they stormed the School; they dashed to a transport the last one in the hanger: in which the team Erasiel had put together and the Professors were waiting, Tecna was at the pilot's seat.

"Alright Tecna take off: let's get out of the danger zone!" Erasiel shouted, the Pinkett obliged and the ship took off; flying out of the hanger at a high speed and dodging the efforts of griffons and siege engines to knock it out of the sky.

Meanwhile… "Lord Templar Marcus we've secured the courtyard" a Lighthaven warrior reported.

"Excellent enter the school" Marcus stated, the large vanguard; tens of thousands of Lighthaven warriors stormed the school and surged inside. Marcus took a victory lap. "Good to see the Heretics in retreat hopefully the other schools will be this easy" Lord Marcus stated to his subordinates when a terrified soldier ran in their direction.

"Lord Marcus! Sir!" the Soldier urgently shouted.

"What is it sergeant" Marcus asked.

"Sir the school it- "the Soldier stated.

"It is in our hands now and will make an excellent forward base" Marcus stated.

"That's not it we need to leave now!" the Soldier stated.

"In our moment of triumph? I think your too stressed go get some rest" Marcus stated; those were his final words when a massive explosion rocked the school followed by more explosions a large chunk of the roof fell downwards and Marcus's last thoughts were something along the lines of "Oh Shit!" before he was crushed like a pulp. The Explosion left a mushroom cloud of the kind you would expect from a nuclear blast however this was non-nuclear and was the result of conventional explosives: a lot of conventional explosives. The School was reduced to rubble before the force of the charges and tens of thousands of Lighthaven's finest were now dead; to add insult to injury Erasiel's elite team of Faceless had done another thing that was completely unnoticed by the Lighthaveners and the defenders of Red Fountain alike; they destroyed the great discus portal that allowed the Lighthaveners to get to Magix in the first place and the communications of the Lighthaven army were jammed by orbital satellites thus leaving them without reinforcements or means to retreat; their army however was still a formidable force and numbered over 800,000 warriors in spite of their losses, but these were significant and they would soon receive more attacks on their forces by the Beastmen who's numbers were on a high level despite their earlier defeat, however they had taken significant losses; their artillery had been mostly destroyed and the remaining engines didn't allow for breaches; in addition their siege giants had been reduced from the thousands to only 1200, in addition they had lost a significant portion of their infantry and cavalry both due to magical attacks from Erasiel and the other master casters and due to the explosion overall the Lighthaven army had come out bloodied. As for the defenders they had escaped with minor losses and those had been all in the campus security force which had numbered in around 30,000 but had lost about 700 of their men and had about a 1,000 wounded.

Later… the transport had landed outside Alfea alongside a number of others; half of the Transports went to Cloud Tower to reinforce the defenses there: the groups had dispersed and had proceeded to go their separate ways; each to rest. Erasiel found himself with Bloom as well as Nimeria all of them were now in their day clothes. "Well now what; I knew the Grand Templar would be powerful but how was he able to take those attacks and shrug them off" Bloom asked.

"I think I know why; did you see that red gem on his chest; that was a Star of Elrath; an artifact made from the blood of the Greater Phoenix of Light; it's a powerful artifact and it makes the Grand Templar far more powerful than when I last fought him: he's now a far more dangerous threat; I'll need to think about what to do next; but for the moment I need to rest Bloom: you'd do best to do the same also what the Grand Templar said to you, most of it was true; however your parents are alive but they are frozen in time much like the rest of your people also Bloom you are the best hope for your people; Domino may have fallen but the Kingdom still lives albeit without a King or a Queen" Erasiel stated.

"Anything else you'd like to tell me about my people" Bloom asked.

"Not now; I need to think about that and I need to do some research: that Star can be broken but I'll need a powerful weapon to do so and on top of it someone who can use it, but that will take time; in the meantime get as much rest as you can Bloom: also if you have any dreams tell Faragonda I'm in need of much rest myself" Erasiel responded.

"You poor thing Nathan: I'll help you with your rest; you need some cheering up" Nimeria stated.

"Thanks Nim, Bloom go now: like I said I'll need some rest and time to think" Erasiel stated; he and Nimeria left; and they made their way to one of the school's many guest rooms, along their way they had noticed that the nurses from both Red Fountain and Alfea were overwhelmed with number of wounded security and students fortunately faeries who were skilled in healing magic were helping them as was Griselda with her Phoenix tears. "I'll try do what I can Nim to try and prevent more deaths; I don't want these people to die needlessly nor at all but such is the nature of war; better that they died in battle then on a bonfire at the hands of madmen from Lighthaven" Erasiel commented, they soon arrived at a room that was out of the way; Erasiel put a sign on it that said do not disturb and Nimeria locked the door when they had entered they both kicked off their shoes.

"Now let's see to cheering you up; you've had a busy day my boyfriend and let me try my best to cheer you up" Nimeria stated with a lustful grin on her face, she pressed him against the bed and they locked lips; Erasiel felt the taste of Blue raspberry from her lips with a hint of chocolate; Nimeria slipped her tongue into his mouth and explored it: Erasiel motioned to remove his closed but Nimeria stopped him and broke the kiss. "No honey, you are supposed to be relaxing and enjoying this, I'll see to everything else" Nimeria stated, then she removed his shirt then licking his right nipple with her tongue illisitating a moan from Erasiel all the while she removed his pants and then his boxers before clutching his cock and giving him and hand job; she used her free hand to open her dress and expose her breasts after lowering it to remove her bra; she moved her lips to kiss Erasiel who moaned into it, she then broke her kiss then stripped to the nude minus her lavender stockings; she placed Erasiel's hands to the side and she continued her hand job and to lick his pecks then trailed kisses downward.

"Oh Nim" Erasiel moaned, then he noticed her cute face as she had his dick in her mouth she then proceed to slowly move up and down: Nimeria's skill with a blowjob had been improving significantly over the months though she wasn't bad at first; the licking of her tongue in combination with her sucking was amazing. Erasiel at this point was following her instructions; at the moment he was worn out from his fight with the Grand Templar and Nimeria was genuinely refreshed from the fighting as she hadn't been extremely overwhelmed like he was also she had been resting on the shuttle ride on the way to Alfea so she was energetic and ready to please him all night; outside the sunset looked as beautiful as Nimeria even more so as it was fading to twilight, the loving movements of Nimeria's mouth and tongue kept Erasiel happy; he was experiencing pleasure where he had been for most of the day experiencing battle it was a welcome change of pace especially when it was with someone he loved like Nimeria; he was even more delighted when she wrapped her d-cup breasts around his length and slowing moved them in a paizuri kiss he loved her deep blue hair which was as lovely as twilight.

All this joy however was concluded when he let loose his loud creaming Nimeria's mouth, face, and breasts with a nice bukkake; which she licked off eagerly as it tasted like sherbert Ice cream to her. "Mm delicious, now let's see what you can do to me" Nimeria stated she then climbed up onto him turned and took his length into her anus. She moaned in pleasure as she moved up and down Erasiel put his hand on her shoulder and she kissed him their tongues danced as Erasiel placed his hands on her breasts and moved them in circles she giggled into the kiss and he thrust back in forth. While in the Winx Dorm room another conversation was going on between the Winx.

"So, what is romance like on your planet Flora" Bloom asked.

"Well it is simple when you meet a guy or girl you like you carry out your relationship and when you two decide you really love each other and you want to marry you then have sex with him or her for the first time giving that person your virginity; it is the greatest gift and sign of love you can give to a person" Flora stated.

"Well on my planet most people wait till their married to well do it with each other but of course there are people who do it for enjoyment; there weren't many people like that at my school not even Mitzi is like that" Bloom stated.

"Good to hear that Bloom: on Eraklyion it's the same way though that rule doesn't apply to concubines" Diaspro commented.

"What's it like on Solaria?" Flora asked Stella.

"Very much the same as on Earth though you do tend to flirt with other people during a relationship just to see if they are a better partner though that applies to people who aren't of the nobility in the nobility we are very picky and relationships are usually encouraged between people to see if they're compatible before you even get into dating let alone marriage proposals, though it is a thing that marriages aren't arranged usually if your dead set on a marriage you ask the person you want to marry; even if you're rushing into it" Stella commented.

"What's it like on Zenith" Diaspro asked Tecna.

"On Zenith you marry for love regardless of class, though we have something in common with people from Lynphea in that we fuck our partner once you've really decided you love them; in fact you can go on fucking until you decide you want to get married heck some people go into their marriage after having their third kid; though it wasn't like that with my parents; they married a week after their first time; then they had my older sister then me and then my brother and they are still young I haven't been to my home in while nor had news from it since I left so for all I know my parents have given me another sister or brother, when it comes to having kids there really isn't a limit apart from your income" Tecna commented.

"I've never heard you swear like that before; so, let me get this straight if your princess wants to well have sex with a poor guy off the street that she fell in love with and marry him that's alright?" Bloom responded.

"Yes and forgive me for my swearing; that was me being blunt it felt logical but forgive me if I offended you Bloom; you are my friend" Tecna stated.

"So, what about Melody Musa?" Bloom asked.

"On Melody you pursue love with whomever you want to, but you wait till marriage for sex: its regarded as the ultimate harmony reserved for the highest form of love marriage" Musa stated. "Though if a Royal wants to marry someone who is not off noble birth they will have to give up their inheritance; that was what my dad did when he married my mother" Musa elaborated.

While this discussion was going on Erasiel and Nimeria continued to make passionate love and soon they both fell exhausted and passed out under the covers of the guest bed.

All the while Faragonda was deliberating with Saladin and the others on what to do next.


	19. Arc 1 Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Tecna's Truth and the Search for Knowledge

Blood, fire broken stone: that was all that was left of Red Fountain; the Grand Templar gathered in his war tent alongside the Lord Templars. "We've searched the rubble and I found Lord Marcus's sword as well as his holy book" Lord De Lande stated placing a book and a sword on the table. "I've also done my best seeing to our wounded and looking for survivors; I've helped our healers and lightened their work load significantly with miracles" De Lande continued.

"I am glad to hear that you've done good work De Lande and thank you for returning this tome: it was a shame to lose Lord Marcus; he'll be missed" Arsonious stated.

"We may have to adapt our plans; we've lost all communication and our forces have been significantly weakened" Lord Dexter commented, he was man with short gray hair, but he had no beard and he wore a black robe.

"You are correct Lord Dexter our plans do require changing; however, we have won a victory at serious cost but a victory none the less: Lord Arsonious may I suggest the movement of our troops here; we have to attack the two schools however there is a large swamp along our line of march regardless of which one we go after" Lord Cornelius stated.

"Indeed, however that route would take too long; if I know Darkar he will have called for reinforcements and thus we will need to win and do so quickly we only have one option that will allow us a quick victory and that is thru the swamp" Arsonious stated.

"My lords!" A soldier stated rushing in. "We are being attacked by Beastmen again and there are more of them this time" the Soldier stated.

"We'll have to deal with them first then before we make any further decisions" the Grand Templar commented and their meeting dispersed.

The New day had dawned and while the forces of Lighthaven clashed with the Beastmen Erasiel found himself in more enjoyable pursuits namely a morning round of sex with Nimeria who he was currently riding doggy style. This went on for a number of minutes before they decided they'd had enough and got dressed. "You know Nim I'm feeling a lot better now, you've really cheered me up" Erasiel stated.

"Well I'm glad I can do that for you at least; besides you deserve that it was a hero's reward, a true hero's reward; not some thank you with lip service but some actual action" Nimeria stated.

"Well I'm going to do some research Nim; I'd appreciate it if you can tell the others to be ready in case I need them" Erasiel stated.

"I'll do that; I think I can Polly to help you with your research she's a regular bookworm if you remember" Nimeria stated.

"Good Also can you get Tecna as well: I would be happy to have her help" Erasiel commented.

"Anything for you my favorite Phoenix" Nimeria stated, then they gave each other another kiss and did so for a few minutes before leaving the room.

"Morning Griselda" Erasiel greeted. "You be a good girl today and don't bother disciplining the witches they're out of you authority don't worry they'll behave" Erasiel commented she glared at him, "Also I wouldn't recommend going in there the place is a mess" Erasiel stated indicating the room behind him, Griselda pushed past him then yelled in irate annoyance.

"Let her clean that mess up" Nimeria commented.

"Yep" Erasiel stated then kissed her on the cheek and departed, he made his way for the library where Barbatea the Librarian was busy going thru notes. "Any books on powerful magical weapons capable of putting down genocidal madmen and terrifying monsters" Erasiel asked Barbatea who jumped up from her reading. Barbatea had short and thick cloud shaped purple hair and her eyes are at an angle pointing upwards. She wore large round glasses much like Faragonda. Her outfit was the stereotypical librarian attire, consisting of a blue vest, light blue, long puffy sleeved, collared dress shirt, an indigo long skirt that has a small slit at the bottom and above-knee blue, high heeled boots, Erasiel found her attractive but he was not in the mind set for flirting right now.

"Books about powerful weapons?! Not in the normal section; in the Restricted section; oh, it's you Erasiel; Headmistress Faragonda informed me you had full reign of anything in library as over half of the volumes here were donated from your personal collection" Barbatea responded, then pulled out her keys and guided him to a gated off section of the library a part where he had been previously during his research into Bloom. Erasiel entered the room and looked thru shelf after shelf ignoring obviously dangerous books and anything that didn't have anything to do with his current search and after about 20 minutes he found what he was looking for.

"Ah here it is: Magical Arms and Armor of the Many Realms of the Magic Dimension by Hagan Greatsmith, my father-in laws personal record of powerful equipment forged throughout the ages; perfect for finding anything capable of killing a crazed religious zealot by the name of Arsonious; wait this is volume one; I'll need the other six" Erasiel commented to himself; he was approached by Tecna and Polly.

"Hey Nathan, what are you doing?" Tecna greeted and asked.

"Looking for books on the subject of overpowered magical artifacts capable of shattering Greater Phoenix crystal artifacts and killing exalted religious madmen" Erasiel responded.

"That's specific" Polly commented.

"Indeed, in short I'm looking for a weapon that can kill Grand Templar Arsonious and that is relatively close by and can be wielded by someone here on Magix." Erasiel responded.

"Well we can help you look" Polly stated.

"I'd appreciate that, that's why I sent Nim to get you two" Erasiel stated, they then proceeded to look thru the restricted section for more books on the subject, after acquiring as many books as was relevant they then moved to nearby table. "Alright now that we've got the books let's get started, will start with the most recent in terms of publishing dates and work our way along until we find something that can work for the purpose" Erasiel stated.

An hour of searching lead to multiple options however Erasiel shot down most of these do either the weapon in question being too far away, not usable by anyone on Magix, being hopeless lost slash destroyed, or just not strong enough for the purpose. "How about he the Axe of Mortis?" Polly commented.

"Too dangerous, besides necromantic weaponry against a holy templar: are you joking? That's the kind of weapon anyway that we would need a Lich to wield safely" Erasiel commented, "I mean I could always phone my buddy Arkhan the Black, but he is quite busy with council business at the moment and Axes aren't his style he prefers swords specifically his Tomb Blade, nope out of the question next" Erasiel stated.

"How about Grundost, Hammer of Ages? The Dwarf High King has that and he's coming to our aid" Tecna commented.

"If it was Tolghar, High King Wulfstan's father, wielding Grundost then yes but unfortunately he is current frozen in time in the Obsidian Dimension along with most of the Army of Light; Wulfstan is a formidable fighter but he is too young and inexperienced with the hammer, he prefers his Axe, Next" Erasiel responded.

"Ok how about this one: Valruost the Blood Drinker; the sword of Kings" Polly stated, Erasiel smiled.

"Of course Valruost the sword of the Kings of Domino; that is close by we have someone who can use it Bloom, it would rally the Princes of Domino's moons and colonies and- wait: hold that thought I can't have Bloom go against the High Templar in good conscience, she's the only here who can use that sword plus it would require us to go to Domino which is doable but then we'd have to fight into the palace thru the forces and monsters left behind by the Ancestresses; that is ballsy but it might work however I'd like to leave that as a fall back plan if we have no other options, so in a word, NEXT!" Erasiel replied and they searched thru the books more suggestions more disappointment, more of Erasiel giving good reasons not to but also informing them that some of those artifacts were lost or destroyed.

After two hours of searching they had exhausted all other options. "Well that's it we've exhausted everything that fills the categories; We don't have time for my Father-in Law to forge a new weapon that would take months; nor do we have any other options, I need some time to think on this; a mission to Domino could be dangerous and it is our only option and thus I'll need to think long and hard on how to go about this" Erasiel stated. "Kerborg!" Erasiel barked and his faceless servant appeared at attention in bat form. "I need you to inform the troops I need a scouting run of Domino specifically around the royal city of Sparx" Erasiel instructed, and Kerborg nodded and left.

"I need some thinking about this: Polly go and get the team together and inform them of my plan; bar the Winx I'll tell them myself with Tecna: also tell Artesia to get her ship ready we'll need it" Erasiel stated, the purple haired girl nodded and left.

"Nathan we need to talk" Tecna stated.

"About what?" Erasiel asked.

"Not here, in private: and away from anyone else" Tecna explained, they left the Library after depositing the books on the countertop to the attention of Barbatea who got up to put them away. They then left the library and proceeded to the Winx Dorm; where the others were absent a sign was on the table that stated out to lunch be back in an hour. "Well that's comforting no one to disturb us" Tecna stated, then she escorted him to her shared room with Musa, which was unoccupied by the Fairy of Music who was out to lunch and left her laptop computer on her bed turned off next to a book the title of which was: Melody's music and melodies, with a note on the cover which said; "Downloaded all the tunes a nice piece of home; return to library signed Musa"

"Well I'm surprised she left a note on it" Erasiel commented.

"Oh, that's for me; since I get most of the books from the library Musa has my take her few checkouts back when she's done with them; anyway, that's not what I brought you here for" Tecna responded she then locked the door.

"What is it you brought me here for" Erasiel asked, he then was surprised by a kiss, his shock allowed Tecna to slip her tongue into his mouth before he eased into it and locked his around her; the kiss lasted for a minute before she broke it.

"Nathan: we've been dating for months now: I've only now realized how much I love you; and I've come to a decision; I want you for my husband but I'm not old enough to marry; however, that doesn't mean I'm below the age of consent: therefore, I've decided to give you something no one else has ever received and is something I only have one of: my virginity. I love you Erasiel Nathan Darkar; I love you more than anyone else; you've taught me something that we don't do on my homeworld; express our emotions openly; I can now smile whenever you're here or when I think of you; I just now want to give you what I've wanted to give you for a month now and now that we are at war and I might lose you or you lose me it's best that we do it now: I'd hate to think what would happen should we lose" Tecna stated.

"You've been thinking long and hard about this; are you sure about this" Erasiel asked, to which Tecna removed her top and her pants to reveal some rather exotic and seductive underwear that was Zenithian and had a techno-theme; a lime green and purple lace bra and panties as well as silk stockings of the same color, she removed her shoes.

"I'm sure; sure as I've ever been it is the only logical thing: I Arch-duchess Tecna Azitara Vedros of Zenith; second daughter of King Cryos VII of Zenith and Queen Magnithia Ypsi of Titania, sister to Princess Grisellia and Arch-Duke Kauron pledge my undying love to you Lord Erasiel Nathan Darkar son of Lord Argulus Darkar and Lady Avarra Darkar brother to Zephyr, Irietta, Eris and Arantir, in eyes of Ashyr the Phoenix lord of Logic and Asha Phoenix Queen I give you my love" Tecna stated then dragged him into a kiss which Erasiel accepted.

Erasiel ran one hand thru her short pink hair and another cupped her left butt cheek her hands went to his shirt and she took it off along with the undershirt beneath exposing his scarred but fit chest. "you have so many scars, how many of these are recent?" Tecna asked.

"All are within the last sixteen years any I had before that were well lost when I died and went to my ninth and current incarnation after my eighth was killed by the Ancestresses" Erasiel stated.

"You treat death so lightly" Tecna stated as she removed his sweats leaving him in his boxers she wrapped her hands around his tail moving thru the feathers of it.

"Death is just a part of existence: only thing with Phoenixes is that it is a bit of a joke, even more so if Demons want to claim your soul they can't because you never truly die which I find hilarious" Erasiel commented then he picked Tecna up carrying her to the bed and kissing her the whole way. Their make out session lasted for a bit before Erasiel kissed Tecna gracefully down her neck stopping at her breasts which he exposed from behind her bra though not removing it, he settled on one of her nipples and began to nurse at it, Tecna moaned as he did so, he felt her press a hand on his head encouraging him to continue. The researching was thirst work and Erasiel thirst was starting to be quenched by the Zenithian Fairy's milk, he stopped sucking on one breast and moved to the other, he used his right hand to remove her panties, while using his left to remove his boxers leaving both of their genitals exposed.

"Well don't hang back I can feel you rubbing me; I'm ready take it" Tecna stated, Erasiel obliged and entered her missionary style, pushing inside taking her virginity, to his surprise blue blood flowed down his phallus, he forget the blood of Zenithians was blue do to the artic environment of their planet, he began to slowly thrust up and down Tecna's hands groped his tail and his bum beneath it; Erasiel's tail obscured the movements from Tecna's sight though she felt his thrusts. The movements of Erasiel and Tecna shook the bed and Erasiel soon changed positions spooning as he suckled from her breasts still thirsty; Erasiel's constant thrusts continued until he had reached his limit and unloaded in her. As he pulled out Tecna stated "Don't worry I know Phoenixes can control their sperm's ability to produce children; best that we hold off on that until later wouldn't want the other girls to find out that I'm fucking you behind their backs" Tecna stated.

"You don't need to be that dirty with your mouth" Erasiel observed "I only use those words under outrage or extreme duress" Erasiel continued.

"Well then I'll refrain from using them in the future I was just being blunt that's all" Tecna responded, then flipped over shaking her rear at him provocatively. Erasiel responded to this by entering her anally popping her black cherry and enjoying the tightness.

"Tecna you're super tight" Erasiel commented, then proceeded to ride her doggy style, Tecna moaned into a pillow "Yes! Yes!" as well as more unintelligible things mainly regarding his skill at this. Erasiel then pulled her upward and laid back to allow him to kiss her but also to fondle her D-cup breasts, Erasiel's momentum continued and the bed shook harder than before, though because of the materials use in its construction it would not break no matter how much they moved. Erasiel eventually unloaded inside Tecna's rear and pulled out. "You know I'd love to see what you can do with your breasts" Erasiel commented.

"I'd love to show you" Tecna replied then climbed off him and wrapped his phallus in her breasts. "I'll demonstrate what on Zenith we call the embrace of Gazeal" Tecna stated then began to move her breasts slowly up and down her length, "I'll also give you what is called a Renderri kiss" Tecna stated then kiss the tip of his length before slowly and methodically liking it, she moved her breasts in opposing directions. Erasiel was in heavenly bliss, it had been a long time since he had a Zenithian warm his bed much less a virgin one who was surprisingly skilled in the arts, most likely do to simulations on Tecna's part as it was common practice on Zenith to prepare for any scenario as it was part of their logic, thus it allowed for even a virgin Zenithian to be as skilled as a nymphomaniac Zenithian. The movements of Tecna's mouth, tongue and breasts were exotic yet methodical and practiced, even though Erasiel knew she was a virgin due the blood on the bedsheets he felt as if she was a nymphomaniac, but that was beside the point, she was graceful and as befitting a Princess of Zenith and she was doing her best to show her love for him. Their lovemaking continued for a bit as they tried numerous forms but they both knew it would have to end soon to avoid the other Winx finding out.

Later… Erasiel and Tecna redressed rather quickly then moved to the couch in the front room after making Tecna's bed to standard it had been before their amorous adventure and then Erasiel took out a Gameboy and Tecna a similar device from Zenith and they began gaming, 10 minutes later the other Winx came in thru the front door. "Hey guys" Bloom stated. "Where were you?" Bloom asked.

"Doing research and then we played some videos games: We've found a solution to killing the Grand Templar Bloom and you are the one who will do it" Erasiel stated, Bloom was shocked.

"Me? I've not sure about this why me? And what is your plan?" Bloom asked

"Fine questions all of them: first off you are the only person who can wield this weapons and secondly you'll need warm winter clothing Bloom because we are going to Domino" Erasiel stated to the shock of everyone apart from Tecna who just grinned. "Bloom I'll need for you to come with me, we will need something from Daphne before we leave" Erasiel explained.

Later at Lake Roccaluchee…. Erasiel and Bloom approached the lake shore which was muddy due to the rain, the Lighthaveners were no were near the lake and no scouts were seen. "So, what do we need to see Daphne for?" Bloom asked.

"For something that will make our mission to Domino way easier" Erasiel stated then said something in a foreign language, on que Daphne rose from the lake like the maiden of Arthurian fame, though not having a sword.

"Bloom, Erasiel it is good to see you" Daphne greeted.

"We are going to Domino" Bloom explained.

"Why are you going there?" Daphne asked.

"In search of Valruost; the only thing that can kill Grand Templar Arsonious" Erasiel explained.

"I see, well I can't do much to aid you Bloom in that journey however I have something that can aid you in your quest" Daphne explained, then to Bloom's surprise removed her mask. "My Mask will allow you to see Domino as it was, and see things hidden to the normal eye, it will help you find the Royal City of Sparx and find Valruost, I wish luck in your journey" Daphne explained, her mask flew to Bloom with a wave of her hand, Bloom put it on, it was as solid as her shirt but dry despite having been in the Lake. "I love you Bloom, make our ancestors proud, our Grandfather was murdered by Arsonious as well as a number of his siblings, his father and a host of other relatives, Arsonious has done much evil to our family and to Domino, don't hesitate to kill him" Daphne explained, with that she vanished and Bloom and Erasiel left.


	20. Arc 1 Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Mission to Domino Part 1: the Ruins of Sparx

Erasiel had made sure to prepare extensively; his faceless scouts had reported that the Lighthaven army had already marched into the Black Mud Swamp and had been attacked by the Goblins from multiple angles before feigning a retreat; according to the account of said scouts the Lighthaven warriors had divided their forces to pursue their attackers and each these had been led by a Lord Templar. The result of this pursuit was a massacre of the Lighthaven forces by the goblins who had encircled the Lighthaven warriors who had been slowed down by the mud and using their war spiders, squigs, fanatics, and superior maneuverability they had killed most of both groups including the two Lord Templars who had led the attacks on either flank most of Lighthaven casualties came from being weighed down by their army and sinking into and drowning in the swamp, the followed up these victories by continued to harass the Lighthaven army; the losses from the two battles amounted to around 20% of the Lighthaven army: in fact the Goblins of the Swamp had been more deadly than the Beastmen in attacking the Lighthaven army though the Beastmen had done significant damage. Overall a mighty Lighthaven army had been cut down rather significantly also the Goblins latest plans had been to poison the Lighthaven army's food and water supplies and with the stealth that Goblins had in a swamp and rather natural stealth in general they would no doubt succeed especially since the Faceless scouts had been picking of the sentries on watch whenever they stopped to regroup. The two Lord Templars who had died were Lord Artius and Lord Raynauld both of whom were experienced tacticians, the number of Lord Templers in said army had been taken down to five and any siege engines the Lighthaveners had left over from the Siege of Red Fountain had been destroyed by Goblin ambushers. Granted the Goblins had taken losses, but the Goblins were far more numerous and for every hundreds of them that died if one Lighthavener fell it was a serious loss for their army which was dwindling from the glorious host that had marched out of the portal to a mud covered force whose soldiers were ill-suited to fighting the asymmetrical warfare they were experiencing at the moment.

Despite this the Lighthaven army continued its march; the losses seemed to only drive their religious zeal further and their numbers were still great, they were about a third of the way thru the marsh, the Undines had commenced their raids also to devastating effect, they had powers over the water and the plants with their casters and they used it to have underwater vines drag Lighthaven soldiers down into the bogs where the Undines either killed them ruthlessly with their halberds, swords and axes or drowned them. The attacks happened so fast and with such precession that the Lighthaveners couldn't even tell they were being attacked, when it came to the amount of Lighthaveners killed the Undines matched the Goblins kill ratio in their battles only difference being that Undines didn't suffer losses due to their size, speed and the fact that the underwater environment favored them extremely lopsidedly. Also, the effects of these losses while not effecting the Lighthaven army's morale as a whole, they did effect individual groups of soldiers who panicked upon seeing their comrades dragged under water which either was soon red with blood or more disconcertingly not at all, the gargled screams heard either way.

The general movement however of their forces seemed to be focused towards Cloud Tower; according to talk around their camp Lord Templar De Lande seemed to be the favored general of Arsonious due to his awareness, also De Lande was the youngest of the Lord Templars and the most reasonable of the group, and most likely to be Arsonious's successor as he was generally kind hearted and cared for the men under his command: of the Lord Templars Erasiel desired this man to be the one to be at the negotiating table also the one who would succeed Arsonious because he was a follower of Eolia: the Phoenix of Mercy and Compassion but also charity and defense; the younger daughter of Elrath and the only order deity in the Lighthaven pantheon. Therefore, due to these factors Erasiel gave specific instructions to not attack or kill De Lande as he was likely the only person who would go for a peaceful resolution in the end.

The other thing his spies reported was that the merciful but still zealous Lord Templar Dexter was the favored commander of Arsonious for the attack on Cloud Tower, Erasiel was certain however that should the Lighthaveners assault Cloud Tower they wouldn't be able to take it, granted they may breach the outer defenses and first few floors but the higher levels had the ability to get attackers hopelessly loss and had a myriad of traps that would basically halt the Lighthaveners indefinitely, which would force them to attack Alfea.

Speaking of said school he was currently there as he had been since concluding his research and was preparing his expedition to Domino; it consisted of the Winx as well as the Team of witches he brought from Cloud Tower; who had taken the nickname of Nimnx after Nimeria who lead them, also with them were a crack team of seven specialists lead by Riven and Artesia; the other five members were three women and two men: the women being Leona, Angiune, and Sabitha and two men being Bishop and Timmy; Timmy being the teams tech expert; neither Bishop or Timmy were anything but friends with the women on their team as they had their own relationships with other people; Timmy's girlfriend being a blue haired specialist techie by the name Annamarie and Bishop's being a girl by the name Meninas who was a sorceress at Red Fountain, both of them were among Alfea's defenders. Each member of this expedition wore a specialized outfit which consisted of a dark teal jacket with a furry hood along with matching dark teal trousers, knee high, dark black, boots on her feet. a small black belt, yellow googles, and small black gloves. This outfit was made of a specialized fiber that was both capable of repelling the hazardous cold of Domino but also protected against ice magic and other attacks common to the monstrous creatures that had plagued Domino since the Ancestresses attacked it. They embarked on one of the large Red Fountain ships, this one was a corvette sized vessel and it was well armed, the reason for such a vessel was again to deal with the dangers of Domino. Erasiel himself wore his armor, as he had no worries about the cold do to being a Phoenix, and the armor was arguably the best of the group's armor.

"Commencing take off in 10" Tecna warned, everyone strapped themselves in, the engines powered up along with the shields, part of the team had gone to man the mass driver and laser cannons that were the ships weaponry while others of the tech aspect maned the main blister consoles.

Soon the ship rocketed out of Magix's atmosphere into the void of space. "Plotting a course for Domino" Timmy commented. Timmy was a lanky boy with light brown-orange hair, wears glasses, and is tall and slender. He had small, hazel eyes and medium skin tone. His build is less muscular than the other students at Red Fountain due do his main role as a tech and while he was skilled fighter he wasn't on the skill level of Riven or Artesia, let alone Kordatura. Bloom sat next to Erasiel who sat in the Captain's chair; she was nervous.

"So, what's going to happen next" Bloom stated.

"We'll jump to hyperspace as soon as I finish imputing the calculations, we'll arrive at Domino in a few hours" Timmy commented from his position.

"So, it'll be like a scene out of Star Wars, well I hope Tecna's as good a pilot as Han Solo" Bloom remarked.

"Han who?" Tecna commented.

"Han Solo, the best pilot in the galaxy, he made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs" Bloom responded.

"Granted he took a shortcut thru the Maw Blackhole Cluster" Erasiel commented.

"I didn't know you were a Star Wars fan Nathan" Bloom replied.

"I'm a big fan Bloom, I saw the original movies when they first came out and I am excited for Episode 3, I saw the trailer it's going to be awesome to see Sidious with a Lightsaber" Erasiel commented. "By the way I have one" Erasiel remarked casually pulling out a Lightsaber from his bag to Bloom's shock, she was even more shocked when he ignited it and a purple blade of plasma came out of it. "It works too" Erasiel stated, then pulled a rock out of his bag and cut it clean in half.

"Wow Nathan you are full of surprises, can I have one" Bloom responded.

"Later, probably for your Birthday or Christmas whichever comes first" Erasiel replied.

"My Birthday comes first, it is on the tenth of December but no my parents or should I say godparents don't count presents for my Birthday and Christmas at the same time, there's a good distance in between the two dates for them to give me presents for both" Bloom commented.

"Alright ready; Tecna the coordinates are in, the Hyperdrive is ready when you are" Timmy commented.

"Alright here we go!" Tecna shouted then hit the hyperdrive, the black field of stars in real space was replaced by the blue vortex of Hyperspace. Tecna then hit a button on the console. "Alright the ship's on auto pilot, fill free to move about people until we arrive at Domino" Tecna stated, everyone unstrapped themselves.

Shortly… They had gathered in the main hold of the ship everyone doing different things. Erasiel was standing with Bloom and Stella. "Alright Bloom if you are going to wield Valruost you are going to need to have your personal skills brought up to snuff, now the Grand Templar has millennia of combat experience and I can't exactly train you to his caliber in a few hours however there is an advantage of Valruost and that is it remembers the fighting skill of everyone who has wielded it in the past in other word's Bloom when you fight the Grand Templar you will be doing it with the skill of the past kings and queens of Domino who have wielded it in the past, however that doesn't mean you are going to get out of refreshing your existing combat skills, now I know Professor Palladium has been instructing you in sword fighting however his means of teaching hasn't gotten you to the level you need though it is close, thus I've brought Stella here to help you with this" Erasiel explained.

"Yes, Bloom remember I am the best fencer- "Stella said "That you know of "Erasiel interrupted "On Solaria and am a master of the blade dance, therefore I will be teaching you how to best use a sword" Stella stated, then Erasiel brought out two wooden blades of the same length as Valruost and a large wood shield for both combatants, Bloom and Stella picked up their relevant weapons.

"Here Bloom is a practice blade that is of the same size and length as Valruost, Stella will be wielding the same, your goal is to disarm Stella, now don't hold back because she's your friend, right now she is your teacher and she won't be holding back either, you are to do this until you either best her or we arrive on Domino understand" Erasiel explained his face that of a general giving orders to one of his troops.

"Crystal clear Nathan, Alright Stella show me what you've got" Bloom stated then commenced the attack, Stella gracefully parried Blooms blows until she disarmed Bloom with use of her sword.

"Too brash Bloom, you were flailing about with those blows also you weren't using your shield, remember you have one" Stella commented, Bloom commenced the attack again, and again, and again, each time with different tactics and each time Stella disarmed her. "Are you done warming up yet Bloom?" Stella asked rhetorically, Bloom responded with another barrage of attacks. Each time Bloom reached her limit Stella allowed her a brief 10-minute respite, despite Bloom's attacks Stella was not even warmed up when it came to fatigue, mainly do her stamina having been kept up by numerous tournaments and duels.

Eventually Bloom decided to conserve her energy and adopt a more defensive stance using her shield to attack instead of her sword and using her sword whenever there was an opening, despite her constant efforts to disarm Stella, Stella again disarmed her, however it had been harder for her to do so, then eventually as they were only a 30 minutes from arrival on Domino Bloom disarmed Stella to Erasiel's applause.

"Well done Bloom, you've managed to beat me, of course I wasn't going all out, if I was I would've killed you" Stella commented.

"Well to be fair that has got to be the hardest fight I've ever been in, and that count's Darcy's gauntlet in the simulator" Bloom replied.

"You've done well Bloom, you may not be the equal of your Father and Mother yet, but you are certainly skilled enough to wield Valruost" Erasiel congratulated.

"Anything about Valruost I should know" Bloom asked.

"Well for starters it had been the sword of Kings for generations Bloom, 300 kings and queens of Domino have wielded it, the blade itself is forged of Relix the most powerful substance in existence apart from Dragon Star Plate, something only Elder Dragons can forge, anyway only Phoenixes and a select few at that are capable of forging it and fewer are those who have mastered it. Valruost was forged by Hagen Greatsmith my father-in-law, his daughter Zera is my broodmate and she is second only to him as a smith, the Greatsmiths have been servants of house Darkar for a long time, their loyalty going back to my father's childhood, however Phoenix politics are beyond your concern Bloom; suffice to say Valruost is a powerful weapon and far more powerful than a standard Relix blade due to the three Qualis Gems or Tears of Asha in the hilt, but also because it was forged with Blood magic Bloom, no one died in the forging but the blood magic means that only certain people can use it; those being Hagan who forged it and put his own blood into its forging and those of the royal bloodline of Domino; King Orion I put his own blood into the forging, also everyone who has wielded it since has had to drip their own blood onto the pommel and the blade to wield it, the sword thirsts for blood Bloom, it can only be satisfied with the blood of your enemies, the moment you draw the sword you will unable to sheath it until the bloodthirst of the blade has been satisfied and the only way to satisfy that blade will be to kill the Grand Templar, it will be able to shatter the Star of Elrath to be able to hurt him let alone kill him, also with the blade is the Shield of Domino and the Armor of Kings these too require those of royal blood to wield them however they do not thirst for blood they offer protection equal to the strength of the blade, and on top of it the armor conforms to its wearer" Erasiel explained.

"So, wait is this blade like the Sword of Khaine, will I go insane or curse myself if I use it" Bloom asked.

"No nothing of the sort, just you won't be able to put it away until you've won, also Bloom there is something else, should we succeed in getting those artifacts you will be able to rally the Princes and Dukes who are vassals still to Domino, therefore you will be able to bring an army equal to those of both the Dwarves and Elves coming to aid Alfea and Cloud Tower, in other words Bloom, you are the beacon of hope to your people, they will fight for you the moment they know you are truly the heir to the Throne, though when this is over they will crown you Queen" Erasiel explained.

"Make me Queen, but I don't want to rule, I don't know anything about ruling a kingdom also I don't want to have to leave Gardenia" Bloom replied.

"You won't have to do anything of the sort, The Princes and Dukes and their vassals will follow your commands and operate on their own as they have been the past 16 years, and will do so as long as you desire, in other words Bloom you will be Queen but you won't have to put up with the nonsense of ruling a government you'll delegate responsibility to those under your authority" Erasiel explained. "However, you will still have a coronation, and will no doubt have to from time to time visit to check up on things, but don't worry I'll explain that to Vanessa, she'll take care of it, trust me Bloom, the politics of humans are nothing compared to the labyrinth of Phoenix politics" Erasiel continued.

"Coming out of Hyperspace now, everyone ready for approach" Tecna stated, the blue vortex receded and out the window could be seen a world, frozen but had three moons, two of which spiraled with greenery and the lights of cites, the other being purple and some lights could be seen briefly.

"Welcome Bloom to your home system, out the window you can see your homeworld, as well as its three moons; Coltaris, Endoria and Kerethai, the two green and heavily populated moons are Endoria and Coltaris, while the one with purple clouds which isn't so heavily populated is Kerethai, each of them is home to numerous Duchies and Principalities, unspoiled and untouched by the Ancestresses" Erasiel explained.

"Wow wait why did Ancestresses leave the moons be and attack Domino only" Bloom asked.

"That is something that I took a long time to figure out, but after the war I found out the reason was simple they attacked Domino specifically hoping to cause the Kingdom to shatter into infighting if the Royal family and homeworld fell, it didn't work: the Princes and Dukes don't fight each other instead they stay unified on the grounds that the Royal Line is still alive and out of fear of Whisperia attacking them if they began a civil war, and sitting on the border with the Whisperian Empire has kept them united and Kingdom of Domino still exists all it needs is a leader" Erasiel replied.

"It's amazing to look at the contrast, the moons full of life and the planet itself, a frozen wasteland" Bloom observed.

"Tecna put us down there in the southern hemisphere: the Royal City of Sparx is our destination" Erasiel ordered.

"What is Sparx?" Bloom asked with a quizzical look on her face.

"Sparx is or was the capital and Royal City of Domino, it is where the royal palace and where the relics are, in a secret room known only to a few; your father stopped using them after my father in law forged a special set of armor and the new weapon for him; that weapon is capable of killing the Ancestresses permanently as well as being able to kill Arch-Demons and other powerful monsters. Because of this new kit, your father stored the royal battle gear in a special room used to store Domino's most valuable treasures and can only be opened by a bearer of the Dragon Flame: you'll know what we're looking for when we see it" Erasiel explained.

"So, what is the plan" Flora asked.

"I'm glad you asked, an number of our crew will stay with the ship, we will not land but simply hover above ground and we will use Wind Riders to move about, there are a number of dangerous hazards; chief among are the monstrous creatures created by Ancestresses to guard this place, but there is the issue that if we land on Domino's surface the ship itself might freeze over or be open to attack by the denizens of this icy waste" Erasiel stated.

"Well how will we know where to look and what will we be facing" Pusilitia asked.

"First off as to finding Sparx: well Bloom has Daphne's mask it will allow her to see Domino as it was before its fall; as to what we will be facing, first off there are living constructs of ice that resemble people and can use ice as a weapon both in their weaponry and in their magic, in addition to them there are snow beasts; creatures that before the fall were native to mountains only but have since become quite numerous with no people to check their numbers, also there are Yetis and the most nasty of them is the giant Ickiyak a colossal creature about the size of three story building; it is covered in white-fur and his massive teeth and tusks, fortunately they are rare" Erasiel explained.

Shortly… they navigated to the position closest to the Royal city of Sparx, it was here they divided into teams, one group would explore for the city and protect Bloom, while the other group would stay with the ship and man the weaponry to provide support, the weather outside was a mild snowstorm and thus made it difficult to see. The Away Team consisted of the Winx: Bloom, Stella, Musa, Flora, Diaspro, and Erasiel, the Nimnx: Nimeria, Endora, Pusilitia, Gerbera, Euphorbia, Ververine, Hecate, and Tabitha, and the Elite Team of Specialists: lead by Riven; and included Sabitha, Artesia, Bishop, and Leona. The Ship Team consisted of Tecna, Polly, Timmy and Anguine, who were best suited for manning the ship. The Away Team readied themselves, they donned the equipment for riding the Windriders and Tecna opened the hanger: they then descended.

The Away team moved in diamond formation to prevent being flanked, the bikes hovered over ice sheets, which were mostly obscured, Bloom saw thru Daphne's mask lush valleys, fields of flowers, watch towers and roads. "I see so much with Daphne's mask however what about Sparx will it be in ruin?" Bloom asked Erasiel, they were riding on the same bike which was Erasiel's own Space Strider and thus allowed it to move faster, Bloom was holding onto him, the other bikes also had a passenger in addition to the driver for the purposes of being able to defend the bikes.

"The entire city is relatively intact to a degree, the ice sheets though have covered it, but the ice can't actually destroy the city" Erasiel explained.

"Why is that?" Bloom asked.

"The reason is because the Great Dragon is the core of Domino, the entire planet literally covers him entirely, as result Domino cannot truly freeze over, and the capital has a gate to the underground literally in the lowest catacombs of the Palace, in other words Bloom: the Palace will be as warm and pristine as it was the day you were born, albeit a bit ransacked, most of that was from my fight with the Ancestresses" Erasiel replied. "Head's up I see Ice-men in the distance" Erasiel stated taking a look ahead. "Bloom hold onto my staff, you'll need it" Erasiel commented, they charged into the Ice-men Bloom and the other fairies and witches who were passengers transformed, Bloom, Diaspro, Stella and Musa into Charmix, and Pusilitia, Ververine, Euphorbia, Gerbera and Hecate into witch form. They then let out a cascade of magical attacks which turned the icemen in shards; Bloom used Erasiel's staff to focus her magic causing her to unleash stronger fireballs than usual, those that hit simply melted their targets on contact and those shots that missed actually melted deep into the ice sheet in a semi crater of sorts. The smashing of crystals got the attention of more of the Ice-Men who swarmed in, however their speed allowed them to move far about, also from above the ship rained support shots at the largest groups of Ice-Men causing them to shatter. Soon they outran their pursuers and neared a large glacier a massive one at that causing them to stop.

"Icy would be so useful to have here" Bloom commented to Erasiel.

"Indeed, also Bloom we are here" Erasiel stated, Bloom was confused but then she looked down a realized that beneath her feet was a massive city and that the Glacier was covering a towering palace citadel.

"Wow is the entire city you never told me it was so beautiful and big" Bloom commented.

"Now what" Stella stated, then she stopped and so did everyone to see what Bloom had seen. "So that's the Royal City of Sparx, amazing and it's not a complete ruin" Stella observed.

"Indeed, the Great Dragon's warmth preserves this city and each city on Domino, everything here is trapped in time and ice, now comes the matter of entering the city; first things first we will need to make an entry point" Erasiel explained.

"How exactly do we go about that, we didn't exactly bring pickaxes" Diaspro remarked.

"With Fire magic" Erasiel explained and began to start burning the sheet, however a great roar was heard in the distance. "Ickiyak: Everyone get clear and get the bikes clear too, we can't afford to lose them; Bloom you and I will to get inside by ourselves, everyone else run, lure the Ickiyak as far from here as possible without exhausting our fuel or going too far from us" Erasiel ordered, Everyone did as he said, sudden the ice began to crack as the roar and footsteps of the Ickiyak came towards them.

"What about your bike?" Bloom asked Erasiel after noticing no one got on it.

"That's easy, Kerborg!" Erasiel barked and said faceless appeared next to him. "Take my Space Strider and follow the others" Erasiel ordered and the faceless transformed into a human and donned the biker garb required for the Space Strider and flew off after the others.

"What about the Ickiyak?" Bloom asked as the creature came into view it was nearly on top of them, it was massive was as big as Erasiel said it was and had thick white fur and on its back were spikes of ice, its mouth was full of sharp teeth and large tusks.

"That's our way in" Erasiel commented then thru a fireball in the direction of the Ickiyak. "Hey Ugly, your mother was a hamster, your father smelled of elder berries and your itching for the warming touch of your sister you coxfither!" Erasiel taunted, the creature was outraged mostly, by the existence of these creatures which it deemed as food but somewhere on the level it was outraged by the fact that Erasiel suggested it enjoyed lewd acts with its sister, the claws tried to smash where Erasiel and Bloom were as they dodged out of the way at the last second and it tore a massive chasm into the ice sheet above the city. "Come on!" Erasiel shouted, then tugged Bloom and dived into the chasm.


	21. Arc 1 Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Mission to Domino Part 2: the Right to Rule

Erasiel and Bloom fell, for the moment before they transformed then they flew over the city, the crack torn into the ice sheet allowed them to navigate the city, as they flew over Erasiel pointed out sights of importance, the architecture was unique and was quite eccentric in style, in way it was similar to Alfea in design; however it was faceted with many arches as well as towering minarets, ziggurats, as well as statues of a variety of things, mainly people but also statues of great beasts such as dragons and phoenixes also decorated the city. They came towards the largest of the structures this one was beneath the glacier, the royal palace and they landed in the Courtyard.

"Is there anything dangerous here Nathan?" Bloom asked.

"No, the palace has strong wards and those keep out all but the most powerful of uninvited guests, I placed a number of securities myself to keep the monsters from infesting these areas, also mind you don't touch any statues, some of them aren't statues Bloom" Erasiel responded as they walked thru the courtyard where a number of statues in various poses looked quite out of place.

"What do you mean they aren't statues" Bloom asked hoping that Erasiel didn't mean what he implied.

"Bloom most of the statues in Sparx, and throughout the cities of Domino aren't statues, like this one here" Erasiel stated indicating a statue, it was of a young woman in exotic garb, however on her face was look of absolute fear. "These Bloom are your people; the Ancestresses, didn't just kill your people Bloom, most of them they turned to stone; they are cursed just like Domino itself" Erasiel explained, Bloom's face turned to grief, then anger.

"Those monsters, they did something so horrible and so despicable; these statues are my people, not only did they freeze my home world, they turned my fellow Dominonians into statues, not just here but in other places as well" Bloom responded.

"It is a far better fate then what the Lighthaveners would have done Bloom, this curse can be broken and the people restored but I can't break it only you can; but you aren't strong enough yet Bloom; freeing your parents and destroying the Ancestresses would require you to have a power you don't have right now and moreover one you can't achieve anytime soon, it will take years Bloom for you to be strong enough to face them" Erasiel explained.

"So, there's hope, what happened to my Parents Nathan" Bloom replied.

"The same thing that happened to your people Bloom, only they weren't the only ones and it was on a less grander scale, at the end of the War the Company of Light lead an Army of Order to face the Ancestresses in their greatest stronghold; the Obsidian Dimension, a great battle raged, armies from everyone in the coalition did their part, however at the end of the battle the Ancestresses used their last resort spell, your mother created a barrier for me and a dozen others, we were only ones left spared by the blast, those caught in it both friend and foe alike were turned to stone, among those frozen in time were some of the mightiest warriors in the Magic Dimension, including many kings and queens: the High King of the Dwarves Tolghar was among them, as well as your parents, Stella's Grandfather, and countless others" Erasiel explained.

They soon entered the Palace passing thru the great doors which had been broken open by the besiegers years prior, they then entered into a great hallway with numerous paths branching off, these walls however were covered with paintings, tapestries and banners, some torn beyond recognition but others unscathed. Erasiel guide Bloom down the hallways, then they entered a room with many paintings, each was of a monarch, Kings and Queens of Domino. "Welcome Bloom to the hall of your ancestors, this leads to the Throne Room, which leads to Royal Bedchambers where there is a way into the Vault of the Dragon" Erasiel stated. Bloom studied each picture, there were a mixture of rulers, some were good happy souls, men and women both, others were of stoic figures and proud rulers of the kind you would want to mind your P's and Q's around, then there were some who were lackluster, then there were some Bloom didn't like, people who looked like they had seen terrible things, as well ones who looked like they had done terrible things, a few were outright evil, Erasiel explained each one to her, then after the evil rulers were those who were good again, each monarch was unique in their appearance, and both men and women were rulers, eventually they came to the end of the hall and to the last portrait that of Bloom's Grandfather then they entered the throne room.

"I didn't see a portrait of my parents" Bloom commented.

"Because they kept their portrait somewhere special, the Hall of Ancestors is reserved for former rulers of Domino and their kin, in other words it is reminder of rulers long dead, it is there to remind their successors of their heritage and how to properly rule" Erasiel explained.

"You know you look completely out of place here" Bloom commented. "You are also handsome" she thought.

"I know if I wanted to dress like I belonged here I would, but I don't for time being, and I don't think it is the best thing I could do here" Erasiel stated, as they moved Bloom held his hand, not as a lover would but as a person who need someone to comfort them. The throne room was elaborate, this entire section of the palace had been spared from the fighting, the room was decorated with tapestries, banners, paintings, and suits of armor but of a grand scale and the kind typical of a royal throne room. Erasiel lead Bloom to the throne, then to the side of it and turned right down another hallway, this one had signs on each door informing them of royal quarters; they went to the one at the end of the hall.

Erasiel opened the door with ease as it had been unlocked; they entered the room which at the center of it was a grand bed of many colors and as grandiose as one would expect of a monarch, on the wall in the corner was painting of a lovely woman, with platinum blonde hair and orange eyes, she was dressed in regal gown the was lime green and silver threaded, on her head was a crown. "Who's that" Bloom asked.

Erasiel looked at the picture and frowned as if in mourning then turned to Bloom and said "That is Daphne or rather Daphne as she was before the Ancestresses cursed her and turned her into what she is now" Erasiel replied.

"That's terrible" Bloom stated. "She sacrificed herself so that I could escape; I'm so sad she didn't go to Earth with me" Bloom continued.

"I asked Daphne to do that, but she refused to, she insisted on fighting the Ancestresses with me and I didn't have time to argue before they showed up" Erasiel stated. "Anyway, the past is the past, not much can be done about this now, in time though Bloom you may be able to help Daphne along with everyone else on Domino" Erasiel explained, he then lead Bloom to the Portrait of Daphne and moved it to the side, behind it was button which he pushed, and a wall opened.

They went down the hallway which was bare of any cobwebs due to all animals being turned to stone alongside the inhabitants. At the end of the hallway was a wall in which a door made of Mithril rested, on the door was the crest of the royal family: a red and blue circle with a four-pointed yellow star with Dragon in the center, there was no knob or opener: instead there was a white gem imbedded in place of the knob. "The door can only be opened by a bearer of the Dragon Flame, only a member of the royal family or a Phoenix like myself can open it; Bloom you do the honors, just press you hand against the gem and cast a fire spell on it to open the door" Erasiel explained, Bloom stepped forward in her Charmix, neither her or Erasiel had changed back into their civilian forms when they arrived, she then muttered a spell under her breath and fire was in her palm, she pressed that palm against the gem which turned orange, the noise of tumblers turning was heard and the door opened. Inside the room beyond was a treasure room inside however was not gold or gems but pedestals and chests, atop the pedestals were gem cases in which a variety of things resided, however in the center of the room a great alter atop which rested a pillow on which was wire like circlet, which was silver and blue and studded with pink gems, and near it was a shield of elven style and a suit of armor, and a sword in a black-gold scabbard, the hilt was crimson and silver, the figurehead of a dragon on the pommel, the cross guard was styled like a dragon's wings wrapped around its tail in the center of the guard was a gem: a Bloodstone carved in the shape of a dragon's head while polished white gems were on either end of the cross guard, the sword was long about the length of Bloom's arm, but it was balanced and light. But above all this was a painting of a Man and a Woman, in regal dress and with a crown on either head, Bloom's parents Oritel and Marion.

With a light skin tone, a tall and slender frame, long locks of curly red hair and bright green eyes, Marion bared a striking resemblance to her youngest daughter Bloom. Marion wore her hair in a large updo adorned with a ring of pearls and a three-pointed crown as long curled tendrils cascade down the sides of her face, neck and back. She also wore light pink lipstick and faint green eyeshadow. Her attire consisted of a long bright green dress with paler green and pink accents. Large green and pink shoulder blades poke out from the sides as her green sleeves become large, puffy and lighter in color around her elbows. Their buffs are bound to her wrist by two pink jewels. The torso of the dress consists of a pink corset bodice with dark pinkish-purple patterns on the front, as the rest of the dress flows from there and past her feet, keeping them concealed. Marion also wore a small gold necklace with a large pinkish-purple gemstone to match the ones on her cuffs. Lastly, an elegant pale pink fur cape flows from behind her down to the ground as it curls inward. It also doubles as a boa of sorts as it splits off into two slimmer stands at the front the flow down to just above the queen's feet. Oritel was a man of tall stature with short brown hair, thin brown eyes, a small pointed beard and tan skin. The king's attire consisted of a royal red bodysuit with large, open sleeves that end with large fluffed cuffs. He wore a large metal headpiece that expands over his shoulders and opens up enough above his head to show off his large gold crown. Two red spots in the shape of rounded diamonds were on each side of the headpiece over his ears. From the back of the headpiece rested Oritel's fur cape that flowed down to the ground with a sizeable amount that rests behind him. In front of the headpiece rests a large white cloth topped with an ornate golden collar with a symbol at the center of the collar containing a red and blue circle with a four-pointed yellow star with Dragon in the center; this symbol being the official crest of the Domino Royal Family. The cloth was bound to the bodysuit by a large golden belt. He also wore large metal boots that went up to his knees, the two stood stoically but with good hearts and smiles on their faces.

"Those are my parents" Bloom stated.

"Yes, Bloom your parents; King Oritel XVI and his wife Marion Essentar one of the most powerful faeries in the Magic Dimension, from them you gained your powers, and your mothers looks; Daphne has your grandmother's features your father's mother that is not your mother's mother" Erasiel explained Bloom was hopeful. "Step Forward Bloom, look on the alter; your birthright and right to rule: I moved the crown of the princess here after the battle; waiting for that day that the rightful heir should return, alongside it is the Armor of Kings and the Shield of Domino, and at the center: Valruost the Blood-Drinker; sword of Domino for over three hundred generations, the blade is perfectly balanced, it may look like a two-handed sword but it can be wielded with single hand by anyone capable of using it, also as I mentioned before it retains the knowledge of its former owners so in other words when you use that blade you will have the skills of the past 300 generations of Domino's rulers, 700,000 years of skill plus that of my Father in law who forged it and put part of his strength into it" Erasiel stated, Bloom approached the alter and picked up the sword and strapped it to her side, she touched the armor and suddenly it changed entirely and disappeared only for Bloom to notice she was now wearing the armor, however the armor was completely different then it had been before. The Armor now consisted of a coat of plates worn over a suit of plate mail, the armor was gold and purple, Bloom's hands were covered by plate gloves, her arms protected by plate, her skirt was armored and covered her to her knees, which were covered in plate greaves and boots, on her head was an open Armet topped by a crest that was purple, the helm was golden in appearance, the plates were covered by a heraldic coat which Domino's crest was on but also the image of two young Unicorns foals protected by a Phoenix, one was male the other female, she also wore a cape that was red like her father's her wings were armored in fact all the armor felt to Bloom like she a t-shirt when came to movement. Erasiel stepped up to Bloom and handed her the shield. "En Tipi au tipi tau tos (With your shield or on it)" Erasiel commented in Greek, then he grabbed the crown and held it out with both hands "By right of inheritance and birth and in the name of Asha, I crown thee Princess Bloom of Domino" Erasiel stated placing the circlet atop the helm, the Circlet locked into place as if it belong there.

"I'm not sure about this" Bloom stated after looking into a mirror Erasiel showed her.

"This is the only way to save Alfea, Bloom, much less to save Magix, and to avenge the crimes against your family by the Grand Templar and prevent him from committing more; most importantly it will rally your people and give them hope" Erasiel stated.

"What I would give for my parents to see me now" Bloom stated.

"They would be proud of you, now put the sword on the alter" Erasiel responded, and Bloom did so, she winced when he pulled out a dagger. "Take off one gauntlet and hold out your palm, in order for you to draw the sword you'll need drip your blood unto the hilt, otherwise it won't recognize you as the wielder and you won't be able to use it" Erasiel explained. Bloom was reluctant. "I know it sounds crazy, but your father did this when he drew the blade, and your grandfather and great-grandfather before him not mention your countless other ancestors, don't worry I'll heal the wound" Erasiel stated.

"Alright I'll do it, all the people on Magix are depending on me and I can't be afraid of shedding my own blood" Bloom stated removing the gauntlet on her right hand exposing her graceful hand and grabbed the knife from Erasiel, she calmly sliced the palm of her hand, her blood ran red from it, she grasped the hilt of the blade which locked on to her hand, a felt a drain of her blood from the cut, the white gems on either side filled with blood and Bloodstone in the center glowed, the sword hilt released her palm and Bloom turned to Erasiel to note that he was weeping, he took her palm and wiped the tears on it, the gash Bloom had made healed as if the cut had never been made. "Your tears! They healed me!" Bloom commented surprised.

"I told you I was a Phoenix, several times, actually about 14 times now" Erasiel stated.

"Well I wasn't sure- "Bloom stated.

"Don't be skeptical Bloom, remember you are living a dimension where creatures of myth and legend, to people on Earth anyway, are quite and utterly real" Erasiel commented, Bloom put her gauntlet back on and strapped Valruost to her side. "Now we must be leaving, I'm sure everyone is currently still being chased by that Ickiyak and we get to them and get off Domino" Erasiel stated.

"So now what do we do?" Bloom stated as they left the vault.

"There is something we can do that your sword will allow; we can call the Princes and Dukes of Domino's moons to war, we wouldn't be able to get the warriors from the colonies but all the armies of Domino are constantly ready to react at any time, the largest forces come from Coltaris and Endoria, Keremathi has a decent force but nowhere near as big as those of the other two, they answer to only those of the line of Domino's royal family, I have some clot but they won't serve me, you however have that blood in your veins and the Relics of the Kings and Queens long past, if you were to appear they would fight for you, and we would be able to with those armies defeat the Lighthaveners" Erasiel explained.

"I'm not sure, I worry about sending people to die for me" Bloom stated.

"That more than qualifies you to rule and lead, well lead and they'll follow" Erasiel stated. "You know that we need everyone who can help to help if we are to defeat the hordes of Lighthaven" Erasiel explained.

"Alright, if I'm to be a Queen of Domino, I've got to make hard decisions, I haven't gotten this far without taking risk and it's time to roll the dice again and see where they land" Bloom stated, they then exited the throne room and continued outward into the city, the crevasse that they had convinced the Ickyack was still gapping open and hadn't gotten the chance to freeze over and wouldn't until nightfall, so they took flight and flew thru the hole, to find the Ickyack in hot pursuit of the Windriders, taking barrages of magic from the Faeries and Witches on escort duty.

"Well Bloom how about a test of your new blade" Erasiel commented.

"Not yet, I have something else in mind" Bloom commented.

"If you wish, your highness" Erasiel replied and Bloom laughed. Erasiel took flight and flew in front of the Ickyack which was angry to see him. "Hey ugly you deserve a prize for your efforts, here have a head that never stops screaming!" Erasiel jeered "Burning Head!" Erasiel yelled, and giant fiery skull went screaming towards the Ickyack which fled in sheer terror, the fiery skull caught up with it and Ickyack ran on fire attempted to extinguish itself. "Perfect, Tecna bring the ship about to pick us up, we're leaving" Erasiel stated on his communicator.

"Roger that" Tecna stated, then lowered the ship and opened the back hatch, all the Windriders and Erasiel's Space Strider flew into hatch followed by Erasiel and Bloom with the door closing behind. Everyone was stunned by Bloom's new get up.

"Wow Bloom is that what you were looking for in the ruins what is that armor and I must say it looks stylish" Stella commented.

"Yes, Stella this and more, most importantly we have Valruost now which means we can defeat the Grand Templar" Bloom remarked.

"Tecna this is Nathan, plot a course for Coltaris, specifically the city of Celdost, the capital" Erasiel instructed Tecna.

"Any reason, we aren't out of fuel you know" Tecna stated.

"We're going to pick up some friends, a lot of them" Erasiel stated. He then took his phone and called Grand Prince Torandar, the ruler of Coltaris and the regent of Domino in absence of a monarch of the royal line.

"Erasiel Darkar? What is it?" Torandar asked.

"Get the other Princes and Dukes, and get as large a crowd as possible, the rightful heir to the Throne of Domino has been found and she had returned" Erasiel stated.

"The heir, I'll do as you say Erasiel for your sake, I trust your word but there are others who may not, they'll need convincing" Torandar commented.

"Don't worry I have just the thing to rally them" Erasiel commented.


	22. Arc 1 Chapter 20

Chapter 20: The Battle for Cloud Tower and Rightful Heir

On Magix, the army of Lighthaven had made it thru the swamp, a large part of the force had come to besiege Cloud Tower, while the rest of the Army waited at camp to prepare for an attack on Alfea. Lord Templar De Lande now stood at the front of the army he had been given command of.

Earlier that day… Lord Templar De Lande was alone with the Grand Templar, Arsonious had requested to speak to him, and him alone. "Lord De Lande, your actions have been heard throughout the camp, the lives you've saved and your deeds in battle have been demonstrated, however that is not why I speak to you" Arsonious stated.

"What do you ask of me Grand Templar?" De Lande asked.

"I have decided to make you my successor, and before you object to this decision I make it of my own accord, of the Lord Templars here your efforts have born the most fruit, however I speak to you on another matter, you worship heavily Lady Eolia, the goddess of mercy and kindness, you are a righteous man you refuse to shed blood needlessly and if you must you grant a merciful death, but your skills in war are not why I've chosen you De Lande" Arsonious stated.

"Why have you chosen me" De Lande asked.

"Because you don't desire war, the Crusade of Light ended years ago, I've been looking back, and doing so I've realized I've done some reprehensible things, the worst of all is that I waged war against those who couldn't fight back, but I tire of war, as no doubt many of us do, I've seen thousands of years of war, and for once we had peace and again we must fight, there is only one measure De Lande, you desire peace and you are man of it, therefore you are best fit to rule, most of all you forgive the scars of the past" Arsonious explained.

"But what of you my lord" De Lande asked.

"I saw a vision of Eolia, she stated I was not long for this world, that this battle ahead, the battle for Alfea would take my life, I know in my heart this is true and I intend to face my death with dignity, this is my fate" Arsonious stated. "Now that I have explained these things to you, I have orders, this war has been needless and too many have died in it, most on our side, therefore I am putting you in charge of taking Cloud Tower, your orders are to take it, do not destroy it and capture all you can especially the Witches, the Lady Eolia wills that they be given the chance to repent and atone for their sins, take those you capture to Lightrock Monastery it is near here and will reform those sinners into faithful worshipers of the Lord of Light Elrath and his children, these are the orders I give you fulfill them" Arsonious ordered, De Lande nodded, then went to a division of men.

Present time… the army of De Lande was 60,000 strong, the army of Lighthaven now numbered only 250,000, the numbers had been lost to attrition, but more to the poison, the Goblins had poisoned their most of their food and water supplies, when the meal came after the poison had been prepared, tens of thousands of warriors fell dead. The army consisted of infantry, all heavy, as the flagellants had long since fallen to the last, the Sentinels and Warrior Monks made up the bulk of the force, with Crusaders, Battle Priests, Inquisitors, Battle Brothers and Templars bringing up the elites of the army with 500 Armored Ogre Crusaders being the strongest to contend with, with 50 War Giants ready for battle, the cavalry were not present being useless in the siege battle, the Griffons had been likewise held in reserve as their numbers were fewer than anything else they had. De Land was in front of this army with a large Ogre named Gaston Vorgar standing next to him alongside his ward and student the Templar Brother Jason Karel, both were clad in the white and gold heavy armor of Lighthaven, Karel carried his helm in his hands while Gaston wore his and carried a banner indicating a ceasefire, right now they had come under the flag of negotiation which had gotten the Witches attention as they expected them to attack outright.

From the outer wall of Cloud Tower Icy Trix looked down at the force in front of her, Stormy and Darcy on either side of her alongside their crack team of witches, they had been given command of the main force; the Trix and the other witches wore armor over their traditional witch form garb. Icy noted that an Ogre carrying a banner accompanied by two men in armor, one looked rather young with golden blonde hair, he was about as old as she was, the other man was young but was older in appearance then the youth next to him. The older man came forward. "Witches of Cloud Tower I am Lord Templar De Lande, I come to parley with you, I have been given orders to take your school but not destroy it, all of your number are to be taken alive at all cost, I offer you a chance to surrender freely, now, if you refuse we will be forced to give you battle: I offer you this in Name of Eolia the Lady of Mercy, I implore to please, I don't desire the blood of those here both on my side and those on yours, I ask this, for Eolia's sake" De Lande explained.

"What do you think sis" Stormy asked, Icy studied the man, he seemed genuine, but Icy wasn't going to hand over Cloud Tower to anyone, much less an army of crazy religious fanatics.

"We will not surrender, defeat us in battle and you may take us captive, but we won't give up Cloud Tower, our school without a fight" Icy responded.

"I understand, if you wish to meet us in a battle then may the best warriors win!" De Lande commented.

"Well he seems decent at least" Vera commented.

"Are you sure about his words Icy?" Darcy asked.

"I'm not sure, but if we are defeated remember what Nathan said: let them take us captive" Icy stated, she then turned to the witches behind her as well as the campus security who were ready. "We stand as the frontline, we will hold the line, you've heard their commander, we join to battle, yield if you are overwhelmed but importantly don't let them thru the gate!" Icy ordered.

Meanwhile…. The ship carrying Erasiel and company had arrived on Coltaris, they were given an escort to the nearest landing platform. Erasiel disembarked followed by Bloom, Riven, Stella, and Nimeria: Bloom for obvious reason and others to represent the three colleges, they wore whatever outfits Erasiel had in his fashion emergency bag; something he kept in case he brought people to a formal event unprepared, Erasiel himself wore regal orange and purple robes and soft shoes which were velvet padded inside, he wore a circlet of silver with the figurehead of a dragon in the center the dragon had amethysts for eyes. "Alright ladies carry yourself with grace" Erasiel commented, the ladies bar Bloom wore formal gowns of the kind you wore a royal ceremony or ball.

"I look ridiculous in this" Riven remarked, she was wearing a pink gown with silver threading.

"Well I gave Nimeria first dibs and Stella refused" Erasiel commented.

"I swear if it weren't for the fact I love you and that we are on a foreign world under diplomatic protocol I would punch you in the nose" Riven stated, Erasiel kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you too Riven, let's keep things diplomatic, I know your parents struggled to teach you anything on the subject, but I know you are capable of keeping up a diplomatic grace, also if you want to vent and blame someone; blame Stella" Erasiel remarked.

"Hey!" Stella quipped.

"You had to pick the purple one didn't you!" Riven retorted to Stella.

"Well I had to, and it is purple and orange and those are my two favorite colors" Stella replied.

"Hey, they are mine too Stella" Erasiel commented, they were soon approached by a man in garb of a herald he was accompanied by two armored swarthy warriors carrying Laz-Halberds.

"Lord Darkar, Prince Torandar has gathered the Princes and Dukes, there is a large crowd awaiting your arrival" the Herald stated. "Which of you is Princess Bloom" the Herald asked.

"That would be me" Bloom stated, she was surprised the Herald had to ask she was only one in armor and with a crown on her head, or rather her helmet, also the only one with 3-foot sword at her side, not to mention her shield which she thought was quite elf-like in design.

"My apologies, this way" the Herald stated. They were lead to a large balcony in which about 10 men and 10 women stood and it overlooked a large multitude, they wore heraldic clothing with armor and some silver diadems. At the center were three men in particular, a tall man in blue and orange clothes with a thick-black beard who wore a diadem he had a nice pleasant expression on his face, Bloom couldn't read the aura's of him or the other nobles, but she could see the auras of the audience. The other two men were of different moods, one was had the face that would've justified a "I really wish I weren't here right now" Button, this man had brown hair a Fu-Manchu style mustache and wore green and yellow clothing, the other man was had the face of someone who was eager and curious and hopeful all at the same time he wore silver and blue clothing and had a jolly beard and resembled Santa Claus. The other men and women were of mixed moods, some of interest, some of annoyance, and two should couldn't gage because they had their helmets over their faces.

"So, this is the one Lord Darkar" Prince Torandar, the man in orange in blue stated.

"Yes, she is the one: she is Princess Bloom, the second Daughter of King Oritel and Queen Marion; by right of inheritance the absolute cognatic law of Domino, she is the heir to the throne" Erasiel stated.

"And how do we know that; this could be anyone, look at her she carries herself like a commoner" the annoyed man stated in a French accent or Bloom thought it was French.

"Give her a chance Duke Sartorous" the Jolly man stated.

"What of it Prince Carandas, she is but a girl probably a common girl a concubine of Lord Darkar dressed up as a warrior" Duke Sartorous said condescendingly.

"She is no such thing and I have a way of proving it; Bloom your sword please" Erasiel stated, Bloom handed him the sword still in its sheathe. "Behold Valruost the Blood-Drinker, sword of the ruling family of Domino" Erasiel stated.

"A fabrication" one of the Nobles stated a stern woman with glasses and in blue and orange gown.

"Really" Erasiel stated then held the blade by its sheath. "Anyone here willing to see if they can touch the hilt of this blade without burning themselves let alone draw it" Erasiel challenged, the unconvinced nobles went over to draw the blade; first being Duke Sartorous; the moment he touched the hilt he screamed in pain and held up his hand which had been branded, a few others tried these held on and attempted to draw the sword, they were burned too and couldn't draw it either. "Now Bloom you try" Erasiel stated, Bloom stepped forward wrapped her hand around the hilt and gracefully drew the sword, its blade had a blood red tint and had a number of runes engraved on it included the figure of dragon.

"How!?" one of the nobles asked incredulously.

"Bloom if you would attempt to sheave your blade and demonstrate to them it cannot be sheaved until it has drawn a great deal of blood" Erasiel commented, Bloom attempted to sheave the sword but sheathe glowed purple and blade refused to go in no matter how hard she tried.

"This is the sword of my Father King Oritel and his father King Grattion before him and it goes back 300 generations; with this blade my Grandfather battled Grand Templar Arsonious of Lighthaven and died in the fight, this blade has seen millennia of war and it thirsts for blood; specifically, the blood of Grand Templar he has returned and is attacking Magix! He must be stopped, or countless innocents will be burned on their bonfires! I was only an infant when my Guardian Vanessa took me to the world of Earth, my sister Daphne sacrificed herself so that I could escape, now after 16 years I've learned of my true heritage, I was against asking you all for help because I didn't want people to die because of me; however I've realized that being a leader you have to make some hard decisions; I feel I can make them now; look at me, I've studied hard at Alfea to become a great fairy, I've braved the ruins of Domino, I've seen things that earlier this year I could have only seen in my dreams, as I grew up an world where magic is regarded as myth and fiction; but now I'm ready to accept my position as a leader: I only ask you to fight for me, then you can go back to living your lives as you had before, people of Coltaris and of the Kingdom of Domino what do you have to say" Bloom spoke, first there was silence then there was a cry that went up from the multitude of "Long live the Queen, For Domino and Queen Bloom!" Bloom was surprised.

"My apologies your majesty, I had no way of knowing what Lord Darkar said was true; but now having seen you speak for yourself and felt the burn of Valruost; I know you as your Father's daughter" Duke Sartorous stated, "Long live the Queen!" he shouted drawing his sword holding it in the air, this caused the crowd and other nobles to draw their blades as well and shout out the same.

"Now what do we do?" Bloom asked.

"We make ready for war" Erasiel stated.

Meanwhile…. At Cloud Tower De Lande's army had breached the wall and pushed back the defenders; so far the Magic from the witches had left and large swath of dead Lighthaven warriors, Darcy had even managed to cause one of the giants to run amok by blinding it, the giant had turned on its own side and trampled a number of Lighthaven warriors underfoot before it ran off into the woods yelling. Right now, they had been pushed inside the main gates of the school and giants were trying their best to breach the gate. Icy stood with her sisters and her elite team of witches; Vera, Ivey, Samantha, Shilly, Rubis, Cersei, Lindsey, Lucrezia, Karen, Lynelle, and Sabrina, also with her were the three fairies: Lolina, Emily, Kaie, Arabel, and Eleanor, the specialists were in front of them, alongside the phalanx of Cloud Tower's campus security warriors as well as the war gargoyles that Griffin had summoned to war and the other constructs besides them. "Whatever happens next we don't let them past: leave the leader to me and my sisters; also leave no witch behind or fairy or anyone! We fight for Cloud Tower! We Fight for Magix!" Icy shouted, her eyes flashed red as she tapped into the flow of magic. Soon the gates crashed open, a surge of attacks from defenders dropped the giant that broke the gates open. Sentinels came marching thru the gate then charged, the blasters of the security team opened up on them, some fell to the firepower, but others soldiered on their blessed armor allowing them protection from the deadly weapons; however, these soon fell to magic, Stormy loosing lightning bolts that chained thru the armor to lethal effect, leaving the smell of melted armor and charred flesh in the air. Vera sent out a cascade of lead bolts from her palms these bolts acted as bullets and the amount she put out was equal to a shotgun blast mixed with a machine gun's rate of fire, these projectiles were extremely lethal. Ivey mixed in poisons with her twin's metal attacks, those not felled by the magical bullets collapsed to the ground in agony to die death deadly poisoning. However, thru these attacks De Lande, Karel and the other templars were unscathed as their wards were too strong for the attacks to penetrate, suddenly the defenders were pushed back, up the stairs. It was then that one of the attacks of a campus guard missed and dropped a large statue down on some of the defenders, not killing them but pinning them and breaking some bones, among these were Shilly, Vera, Cersei, Arabel, Eleanor, Kaie, Lindsey and Samantha, as well as number of campus guards and two specialists the defenders fell back save the Trix and Ivey.

"I can't leave you behind Vera I refuse" Ivey stated attempting to move a statue part off of her sister.

"Please I'll be fine" Vera stated.

"No, you aren't I can tell, you've broken a leg: you had that same face when you were six and fell down the stairs and broke your right leg, now your left is the same!" Ivey stated indignantly as she inspected her sister, both legs had been broken by the rubble. The other defenders had fallen back as planned, the Trix stood their ground in front of the trapped injured as a wall of spears stood against them; De Lande, Karel, and Gaston strode forward. "I give you option to yield; you will not be harmed, and we will tend to your wounded" De Lande stated.

"Well Icy it's your call" Darcy stated.

"Your call sis, I'll go with it even if I hate it" Stormy stated. Icy looked at De Lande, then her sisters, then at Ivey trying to help Vera, in her mind Erasiel's words. This point the lives of those people were in her hands, the Lord Templar had proven his strength even with the power of Dragon flame neither her or her sisters had managed to land a serious injury on him. "Erasiel was right when he said the Dragon Flame wasn't the most powerful magic source in the universe: come on Icy, the lives of these people are at stake, the only way to save them is to surrender and hope De Lande lives up to his word: I trust him but I'm not certain about his men" Icy thought. "How do I know your men won't rape us and take us to a pyre and burn us!" Icy asked.

"I won't allow such a thing, in fact I will go out of my way to escort you and the others to Lightrock Monastery" De Lande stated. "All those I choose for this are those who follow Lady Eolia like myself, mercy is her greatest trait" De Lande stated.

"If you will guarantee no harm to me or my sisters or to anyone here who's injured not withstanding those we've killed, I will surrender" Icy stated.

"I will guarantee that" De Lande stated sheathing his sword, his warriors followed suit. "Men here are my orders: lay your arms down, any man who lays a hand cause harm to these people will have answer to Grand Templar Arsonious himself: bring forth healers from our back lines, Gaston you and the other ogres lift up that broken statue; everyone else reform outside; assume a siege camp until my return" De Lande stated.

"One more thing De Lande, don't bother to continue the attack, going up those stairs will lead your warriors into the halls of confusion, it is a defensive measure to keep out invaders, once your warriors enter there is no way out: you won't be able to continue your assault also you would best leave Cloud Tower be, you may have defeated us but friends of ours are coming to our aid, this fight is done" Icy explained.

De Lande's healers came forth and healed the injuries, soon everyone was bound with magical shackles that restrained their magic; the Templars carried them and the others off to Lightrock where they would stay until they had, according to Lighthaveners, been reformed. As they left Night fell and the Lighthaveners broke off their attack on Cloud Tower


	23. Arc 1 Chapter 21

Chapter 21: The Coming on the Third day

At Alfea Faragonda was in a grim move, she had heard the news from Griffin that Cloud Tower had been attacked and that the Trix and others had been captured but what was more concerning was that the Lighthaveners had broken off their siege of Cloud Tower entirely, which meant one thing, the army was now coming down on Alfea. Griffin had given this news to Faragonda personally as she had arrived with the bulk of the witches from Cloud Tower to come to the defense of Alfea where the Final battle would soon be waged outside the school 250,000 Lighthaven warriors were ready for battle.

"I can't believe Erasiel would take such a risk even this time of desperation" Griffin stated, suddenly a holo projector started beeping on the desk. Faragonda activated it and the familiar figure of Erasiel came into view.

"Hey honey, we are almost here, we'll be coming out of hyperspace soon" Erasiel stated.

"Was your mission successful?" Griffin asked irate.

"Completely, Bloom has drawn Valruost and has received the complete support of the Kingdom of Domino, the entire armies of Coltaris, Endoria, and Keremathi are on route to Magix with more coming from the Colonies" Erasiel stated. "What of our other allies" Erasiel asked.

"I just received a message from the Dwarves saying that a mighty Throng will be arriving in an hour, as to the Elves, they will be arriving about the same time" Faragonda replied.

"Excellent, we'll be arriving soon; also, how is the weather holding up" Erasiel commented.

"The Storm has continued raging however it's not as intense as before" Griffin stated.

"What of the Trix?" Erasiel asked at this both Faragonda and Griffin's faces became grim.

"They have been taken prisoner by the Lighthaveners: Lord Templar De Lande captured them" Griffin stated.

"Well at least they are still alive; they got captured by the most honorable of the Lighthaveners then; after this is over I'll be looking for them" Erasiel stated.

Later… Outside in the courtyard the faeries, witches, specialists, wizards, and other defenders made ready for their last stand, in the center of the plaza Balthazar Gelt mounted his Pegasus Quicksilver, while other teachers had donned their battle regalia, alongside Gelt some of the more elite Specialists including Kordatura had mounted Dragons from Red Fountain; this aerial force was more than capable of dispatching the few griffons that remained of the Lighthaven army as they numbered only a dozen from the 5000 at the beginning, their numbers having been ravaged by the storm and by Erasiel's efforts at Red Fountain and more so by the Beastmen and Goblins who had keen bowmen that were numerous. The host of Lighthaveners stood ready for battle: the Grand Templar at the front of their dread host alongside him was his honor guard and the remaining Lord Templars; the Grand Templar himself was standing on the ground and not yet in their air.

"Heathens and Heretics of Alfea: I give you one chance to surrender and convert now and your lives will be spared, if not we will slaughter you to the last" Grand Templar Arsonious shouted in challenge, suddenly a loud horn was heard followed by more; this was a proud deep horn followed by more proud deep horns, suddenly from a great hill came a host clad in armor; a mighty Throng of 50,000 Warriors, the Dwarves had come at last. At the head of their army was a great wagon pulled by bears, it was ornate and covered with gold, to either side were armored bears on each were dwarves clad in the finest armor and alongside that throngs of Dwarven warriors clad in Aetherium armor etched with runes, they numbered in the thousands, behind them ranks of dwarven warriors clad in fine armor, with more elite units wearing finer armor among these were cavalry with riders on Goats, Boars and Bears and chariots pulled by Goats; among them also were large constructs and towering giants in in even finer armor then the warriors of Lighthaven as well as mighty cannons, ballistae, catapults and moving fortresses; their numbers were tremendous, on the Chariot was the Dwarven High King; Wulfstan son of Tolghar, at his side was his daughter Princess Aida clad in armor rivaled only by her father and his top general Rulf Steelbeard, as well as the master rune smith Khrand Ironbrow and the head of the cult of Arkath the master mage of Fire and Runes Hangvul.

Wulfstan turned towards the Lighthaveners. "Good Morning how are we all; it's a we bit stormy today" King Wulfstan stated as his chariot drew closer to the Lighthaveners. "I got a tiny proposition if you wouldn't mind hearing me out" King Wulfstan continued. "Would you mind: JUST SODDING OFF! You are on the chuffing land of my allies and you attack without just cause or honor; you lack fairness and more importantly you broke oaths!" King Wulfstan yelled.

"Our quarrel is not with you dwarf, merely with people of Magix!" Arsonious replied.

"Aye but there's the teeny problem, the people of Magix, specifically the Faeries of Alfea and Witches of Cloud Tower, are our allies; and you and your army of Umbarakai are on their chuffing land coming to do them harm!" King Wulfstan responded.

"You will be purged as well Dwarves! In the fires of Purity by Elrath you will die!" Arsonious retorted.

"You hear that lads! We're on! Let's give these Wazzuks a Good hammering! Yanad-Dur-Anu!" King Wulfstan shouted and loud "Khazuk!" Roared out from the dwarves along with pounding of Spears, halberds, mattocks, swords, Two-handed Warhammers, axes and shields. "Asuru-Habab!" Wulfstan ordered and the Dwarves formed ranks of interlocking shields and began to advance. "Gamni! Ifridi Zharr!" Wulfstan barked, and crank of artillery was heard.

"Augan Bahkr!" the Dwarven Officers yelled out among the ranks as they advanced. "Khazuk!" the Dwarves yelled.

"ZHARR!" Aida yelled. The roar of Cannons and crack of artillery were heard as a barrage of explosive shells, cannonballs, bolts and boulders soared into the sky and fell amongst the ranks of Lighthaveners; who charged forwards to respond to the Dwarves, inside Alfea the defenders took flight and stormed into the sky; the battle had begun. The remaining griffons were easily taken aside by the aerial support of the Alfea defenders, then they were free to rain magic down upon the Lighthaven army; the Lighthaven priests put up protective barrier, the Lighthaven army was still colossal notwithstanding the dwarves army. Balthazar Gelt led the aerial force forward with a group of junior faeries at his side.

"Gehanna's Golden Hounds!" Balthazar casted, and several giant metal hounds materialized and started to devour Lighthaven warriors with ease. "Searing Doom!" Balthazar casted and giant shards of molten metal poured down on the Lighthaveners, melting them like wax. The several faeries who were flying alongside Balthazar added their own magic to the attacks to varying effects, some Lighthaveners turned into gibbering fools, others were forced to dance non-stop, Katy's spells ended up dropping a bunch of starving crazed weasels which climbed under the armor of Lighthaven warriors and gnawed at their flesh causing them to run into each other. Ahisa; the fairy of Love actually managed to cast a spell which caused a giant to fall in love with a bunch of Lighthaven warriors which it picked up and hugged, crushing them in the process, before it was downed by a dwarven cannonball to the face.

"Baruk-Khazad!" Wulfstan yelled as his army charged in, the King was clad in golden armor with a red cape and crowned helmet, the armor was made of Aetherium and layered with the strongest runes, his orange beard proud in the day, in either hand was weapon, one a Warhammer and the other an Axe. The Dwarves yelled out "Khazad-Ai-Menu!" the battle cry of the Dwarves as they charged, their ranks clashed with the Lighthaven warriors, the King and his Daughter jumped off their chariot to battle on foot alongside the warriors. Princess Aida was a beauty with long orange hair who was strong of body but well-endowed, she wore golden lensed glasses, and heavy Adamantium plate armor covered with runes over a layers of mithril armor as well as crowned helmet the armor was woven with purple silk cloth padding, in her hands was a mithril great-axe named Zardak; which had been forged by her uncle and was fastened with runes of might, on her back was her shield and at her side a sword and axe, she cleaved thru Lighthaven armor like it was paper. Rulf was also strong, he had grey-beard and wore an ornate helm over his thinning hair, he too was clad in extremely strong armor and he wielded an Axe and shield and carved thru rank after rank of Lighthaven warriors, though as they fought a number of dwarves fell.

The Dwarves had barely clashed when the ground quaked and fair horn was heard alongside the roars of raptors. The Dark Elf army had arrived Queen Ylaya at its head alongside her sister Shadya, both rode Cold-ones, with them was an honor guard of cold one Knights and powerful sorceresses, they were clad in armor, much like that of Queen and her sister, this vanguard was backed up by armored elves men and women carrying spears, swords, bows and repeater crossbows, behind that were warriors clad in armor with menacing masks who carried cruel and elegant Great axes and sword, alongside them were Elven maidens wearing little armor and carrying swords and daggers, their hair was mostly blood red with some white haired and dark haired elves among them, behind them were massive armored Minotaurs who towered over the elves and who carried weapons of massive size and variety, alongside them were yellow-green-skinned humanoid creatures clad in purple colored armor in the same vein as the rest of the army, the had longswords, they were Troglodytes. Behind that were fearsome Hydras and flying above the army 60 Black Dragons with riders and without them. This host numbered 50,000 excluding the war beasts which were worth more than a 1,000 men each. "Warriors of Ygg-Chall to battle: Sa'an'Ishar Gorth-eien-Gothrim!" Ylaya shouted and the Elves charged with great speed, they were quickly on top of the Lighthaven army. "Bladewind!" Ylaya casted and several large purple spinning blades tore thru the Lighthaveners allowing the Cold-one cavalry and Chariots to drive in. Throughout the battle magic was casted, the spells from variety of different magic users the sheer effect tore into the Lighthaveners; their numbers fell down significantly though they outnumbered the defenders, then the sound of ships coming into Atmosphere.


	24. Arc 1 Chapter 22

Chapter 22: the Battle for Magix

Earlier… "Bloom you and I will face the Grand Templar ourselves, with our combined power we can defeat him, Bloom we will be the first into battle, our team at our side" Erasiel explained.

"I'm not sure about this" Bloom stated.

"Bloom close your eyes" Erasiel stated, she did so. "Now open them" Erasiel instructed, where Erasiel had been previously stood a large fiery bird with feathers and wings of purple and orange, on this bird was armor of purple and orange with a saddled seat ready. "Bloom this is my true form, I will be your steed, I will bare you into battle and protect you and aid you; Bloom you are one of the few capable of riding a Phoenix and one of the fewer still who have had one offer to bare you into battle; think about it as your warriors disembark the transport they see you flying into battle atop a fiery steed, with your friends at your side; their morale would soar to the heights that they will be able to do deeds they wouldn't normally be able to do, and this will happen not just those from Domino, but to the defenders of Alfea, and the Dwarves, and the Elves" Erasiel stated, he smiled.

"I will do this; only because I've only dreamed of riding a Phoenix much less gotten the chance to: I'll do it!" Bloom shouted then got his back..

"Winx you can come in now" Erasiel stated: the Other Winx entered the room as well as the witches and Kerborg and Gripmaw and surprised by the sight, Bloom on a Phoenix and Erasiel being said Phoenix in his true form. "Kerborg take my staff; I won't be needing it where I'm going" Erasiel stated. The Ship entered the atmosphere and descended downward to Alfea alongside others with rapidly descended to land soon they were over Alfea and could see the battle raging beneath. They delayed until the other ships had landed. "I have two spells for you Bloom: Cascading Fire-cloak and Flaming Sword of Rhuin; they are extremely powerful but with Valruost and Armor of Domino you should be strong enough to cast them" Erasiel explained, Bloom did so, a cloak of fire formed around her armor and Valruost ignited.

"Timmy this is Bloom, open rear doors!" Bloom stated on her wrist comm, the other Winx assumed Charmix; the hanger had been emptied of the Windriders and Space Strider back on Coltaris for their safe keeping, the door opened. "Here we go! Winx Forever!" Bloom yelled. ("Stone by stone creaked, crushed fallen") The flew out of the hanger bay descending into battle, the Warriors of Domino who had landed let out a proud cheer of "To the Queen! To the Queen!" as the Winx flew in a wedge around Bloom as they descended. ("Beauty burned, erased but not forgotten") They charged into battle Bloom jumping off of Erasiel and flying downward into the Lighthaven warriors. ("I'll take your melodies, and you last breath, fill the air with Embers I inhale!") Bloom charged into the Lighthaveners, the combat techniques of her ancestors flowed into her body, she sliced thru Lighthavener after Lighthavener, unaware she was cutting thru elite warriors with ease and thru strong armor like it was butter and flesh like it was paper she was soon covered in their blood near her Stella drove her rapier into the Lighthaveners shredding them with slashes and piercing their guts with her thrusts. ("In their blood I will stand, let the waning light of Man, cast my shadow on the fires of War! Till all time burns away! Till our Embers fade to grey! Cast my Shadow on the fires of WAR!") Bloom was joined by Erasiel who had assumed his combat form in his armor of Order and had drawn Judgement his two-handed Falchion, he used to chop thru Lighthaven warriors, at this point they flew over the Lighthaven soldiers and had been separated by the other Winx who alongside the Nimnx were now using their magic to deadly effect on the Lighthaveners. ("My grief is swollen, is rusty chains, tethered to the killing wind sun up sun down sun up sun down again, one burning candle, one wind whipped flame")

Bloom and Erasiel carved thru a rank after rank of soldiers until they faced the Grand Templar. "So, you have come once again, and you have accepted the role as the leader of a fallen people, I know that sword, I know it well I've slain five men who wielded it and raped two women who wielded it, and now you've come Princess Bloom wielding the Blood-Drinker" Arsonious stated.

"Correct she has!" Erasiel stated.

"And Darkar, what a surprise" Arsonious stated sarcastically. "When this is over, and you are defeated I will rape you princess and end your life and your line once and for all!" Arsonious stated. ("I carry in my teeth like an animal!") "Your father once faced me, after I had slain your Grandfather; oh, your grandfather how he screamed his screams were as bad as when I forced him to watch his sisters raped and then burned!" Arsonious taunted and revealed. A Fire burned in Bloom's blood, she thought of her parents, her true parents; their portrait on Domino; then saw in her minds eyes the visions of the deeds of Grand Templar: Valruost had been a witness to all his vile actions, inside her head the voices cried out for blood, and sword itself cried out for blood: the blood of Arsonious. ("Vengeance my strength!")

"ENOUGH! YOU VILE MONSTER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Bloom screamed her body aflame as an avatar of fire her wings growing to a large size, then she flung herself at the Grand Templar, a flurry of fiery blows cut into him as he rose up, and she did as well with Erasiel behind them yelling at Arsonious as he slashed Judgement into him, "YOU RAPED THEM! YOU MURDERED THEM! YOU KILLED MY CHILDREN!" Erasiel yelled in a blood frenzy.

Each blow tore into Arsonious but each healed, he countered with his Warhammers, but his blows were parried by Bloom with shield and sword allowing her to follow up with sweeping counters as she and Erasiel pushed him back and far from Alfea all the while in her mind the voices of the victims of Arsonious cried out for vengeance, soon the fight drew the over Lake Roccaluchee, suddenly Arsonious hit Erasiel hard with one of his Warhammers and sent Erasiel flying backward knocking over trees with the force of his impact. In Bloom head she heard a familiar voice among the cries for vengeance. "Bloom! Break the gem on his armor! It's the only way to beat him" Daphne yelled in her head over the other voices. Bloom regained her focus, where before she attacked in blind rage and without purpose now she struck true, parried a Warhammer strike and drove Valruost into the Star of Elrath, shattering the gem, and struck true, the blade plunging thru his chest, Arsonious looked at Bloom into her fiery eyes, she looked into him they studied each other's very soul, Arsonious saw in Bloom a spirit of pure light and she saw in him a spirit of pure darkness and madness, Erasiel had recovered and Bloom saw in him a spirit of a roaring inferno.

Arsonious yelled in agony as Erasiel with a clean slash of Judgement removed his wings and he fell, then Bloom drew out Valruost from his chest and drove it into his heart, Erasiel joined Bloom at her side, the blade stopped his fall. "In the name of Asha, Arsonious, I sentence you be purified! Do you have anything to say?" Erasiel stated.

"Eolia was right; I am a monster! Purify me!" Arsonious yelled.

"Bloom purify him: With Fire!" Erasiel yelled.

"Dragon Energy!" Bloom cast and a fiery dragon flew out from Valruost into Arsonious. Under his armor the Grand Templar was aflame in his entirety! He screamed in the agony with the agony of all his victims all those he murdered, raped, and burned; inside Valruost screamed blasphemous words in the Ancient tongue of Dragons into his head along with a litany of his crimes in Arsonious's own language, Arsonious's screams were heard from miles away day light broke from the clouds, his armor tore from him and flew away alongside his hammers back to Lighthaven amputating his arms in the process. As he suffered Bloom repeated what Valruost had said, and Erasiel laid out the judgements of Asha on the villain: each moment he suffered until Bloom's eyes returned to her normal blue eyes and she was no longer aflame with yellow fire. "It's over!" Bloom yelled then pulled Valruost out it was drenched with blood, the entire blade was red, the still aflame Arsonious fell downward still screaming as he fell into the Lake below: then as it hit the water a fiery pillar of fire went upwards into the heavens above with one final scream the Grand Templar of Lighthaven Arsonious was no more, the only thing left being a charred mangled and disemboweled corpse. A Multitude of specters appeared to Bloom, each as they were in life, but happy, at the foremost of them was her Grandfather but there were also others of the royal family as well as faces Erasiel recognized those being of his students and friends who were massacred on Graynor and amongst them were faces of nameless victims of Arsonious.

"Thank You Bloom for avenging us and for releasing us from our suffering; now we can rest now that our murders are avenged" King Grattion proclaimed, the others apart from him vanished but he remained to look at her. "You are truly the heir to Domino, but Bloom your parents are still alive" Grattion explained "My son Oritel yet lives, you aren't strong enough yet to free him and your mother from their curse but one day you will: I am proud of you my Grand-daughter, proud of what you've done and how you've grown, you'll become a great fairy yet, farewell Bloom" King Grattion stated, then planted a kiss on her forehead. "Farewell my dear Grandchild, know this you aren't alone you aren't the last of our people, and you never will be" Grattion stated he kissed her on the cheek hugged her then he faded away.

Bloom wept having never met her Grandfather and never would have the chance to see him alive, then sheathed Valruost the blade allowing it to be sheathed, the sounds of battle had faded, and the cheering of soldiers could be heard. Bloom looked at Erasiel who was smiling. "You've done good Bloom, you've done a heroic deed and most importantly I can rest at night knowing that you have put those who I failed to protect to rest and righted a wrong so grievous that the dead would not rest until it was righted" Erasiel stated, Bloom smiled and then hugged him not caring for the blood that stained their armor.


	25. Arc 1 Epilogue

Arc 1: Epilogue: The Search Begins

The battle had ended, the death of Arsonious caused all remaining Lighthaven warriors to surrender, the new Grand Templar De Lande agreed to a peace treaty and withdraw all forces, though he didn't tell anyone the location of those who had been taken prisoner: the Lighthaven warriors that remained numbered only 50, 30 Lighthaveners, 10 gnomes, three ogres and seven elves, these included the remaining Lord Templars: Cornelius, Lucius, Dexter and De Lande. The damage to Alfea was superficial, Cloud Tower would need repairs to its walls as well as to the broken statues and gargoyles, Red Fountain would need to be completely rebuilt; fortunately, Erasiel had already offered to rebuild it, the Specialists would have to head to another school to continue their education for the time being; the dragons and other creatures and vehicles would be kept at Alfea for safe keeping. The losses of life on the defenders part were concentrated entirely on campus security, each school had taken severe damage to the numbers, about 3000 were dead from every school combined. The conflict had however thinned the Beastmen tribes rather significantly: enough that they wouldn't pose any threat for about a year, the Goblins numbers weren't really that thinned however they were too busy taking advantage of the Beastmen's weakness to be bothered to attack anyone else. The main causalities were on the Lighthaveners, the Dwarves took minor losses as did the Elves and Dominonians, but the Lighthaven army had been decimated.

The Wizards Council was quick to congratulate the defenders on their efforts on beating back the Lighthaveners. Now in the Courtyard Erasiel, Faragonda and Bloom were talking with each other.

"Bloom there is much we need to discuss, but first there is the matter of your actions, first off you will not be reprimanded for the incident that started this conflict in the first place as we have killed so many Lighthaveners at this point for that to matter, you are to be congratulated fully on your actions for your heroics and be rewarded; everyone at Alfea is grateful for what you have done, Kylie if you would be so kind as to join us, Kylie is the student president and also one of Alfea's best students and like Stella she is a Light Fairy" Faragonda stated and a fairy who had been waiting to the side came towards them, Kylie was a light skinned girl with her pale colored lipstick/lip-gloss and usually half-closed eyes that seem to be a light color. Her hair was a bright orange color almost resembling a bob cut with short spiked bangs facing the left, and very few messy strands of hair at the top of her head, almost like a cowlick. Kylie wore a loose, off the shoulder purple long sleeved shirt with very thin material going up the center in an upside-down V shape, which may be fishnet. Kylie also has on a loose pink skirt and possibly pants, socks, or long boots underneath.

"Hello Bloom, I've met with the teachers and other students and we have decided to add the word Winx to the dictionary, on top of that you've been given extra credit points to keep you at all A+s for the rest of the year; also Bloom we thank you so much for what you've done" Kylie stated then hugged her.

"I don't know what to say" Bloom stated.

"You don't have to say much Bloom, you're grateful for this; I can tell, also there's the matter of your coronation" Erasiel stated, then Kylie rushed over and hugged him, and he kissed her, and she giggled.

"Yes, there is that; the Princes and Dukes of the worlds under the Kingdom of Domino have decided to formally crown you their ruler, however as monarch you will have the ability to delegate the responsibilities of governance to your regent, in other words Bloom, you are free to be Queen but also to return and live on Earth if you wish" Faragonda explained.

"That is so great; you know I really don't want to be Queen you know" Bloom stated.

"Consider temporary Bloom, until we free your parents you are in charge of Domino; also you don't really have to do anything except make formal appearances from time to time, other than that you are free to do as you wish; also wouldn't advice wearing that outfit on Earth; in fact it would we be best to keep those artifacts on a world of your choosing just not Earth, heck you can even keep them at Alfea; no one will be able to steal them due to the spells on them so they are safe here" Erasiel explained.

"Well I guess being Queen won't be so bad" Bloom stated.

"It won't be" Stella stated, she was joined by the other Winx.

"So are you ready for the celebration" Musa asked Bloom and Erasiel

"Of course, I am" Bloom stated.

"I'll stay for bit but afterwards I have something that I need to take care of, We'll keep in touch though" Erasiel stated.

"What's that?" Bloom asked.

"The Trix were captured during the fighting along with a number of others; I'm going to find them and free them; even if I have to search the entire Magic Dimension for them" Erasiel stated.

Later that day… The party was in full swing, Erasiel was happy as ever as was Bloom, in fact the two were currently dancing with each other. "You sure can dance Nathan" Bloom complimented.

"You're pretty good yourself, in addition to being beautiful" Erasiel stated as he twirled her around.

"You know I've been thinking about the whole thing, I've decided I think it's best if I stay single for a while, after Sky and all that; I'm sorry for that whole mess I overreacted" Bloom stated.

"It's ok, you've been forgiven for that, in fact I never faulted you in the first place for all this; Bloom you've made a name for yourself, think about it, a few months ago you were just a normal girl living on Earth, now you are the Princess of Domino soon to be Queen; besides if you ever feel like you know dating somebody else; you know I'll be there for you" Erasiel stated.

"Thanks, but like I said its better I stay single for a while, also I'm not exactly legal; I'm still 16 and I have no idea how old you are but I'm completely sure its older than me and while I don't have a problem with dating someone who's older than me; I'd like to hold off on that; I'm not sure why everyone else dates you but I guess it's because they are well from other planets where that kind of thing is normal" Bloom responded. "Also, you said you have to find the Trix, and I'm sure you'll be quite busy for a while" Bloom stated.

"Indeed, besides I have other people to have fun with if you know what I mean" Erasiel stated.

"What is it that makes you different from Sky" Bloom remarked.

"For starters I'm a gentlemen, secondly I'm a Phoenix and it is completely normal for a male of species to have multiple spouses and lovers, third I don't break hearts, and lastly it is normal to have multiple spouses in the Magic Dimension, Earth just hasn't caught up with that custom yet; anyway, less talking more dancing" Erasiel stated.

The following day… Erasiel woke from a wonderful night of pleasure, Euphorbia was on top of him he was still imbedded in her, with Ververine and Gerbera on either side of him, the memories of last night were fresh in his mind, after the party he had proceeded to do every girl who would have him and who was that far in love with him, in fact he had completely exhausted himself, the three sisters were the straw that wore the Phoenix out, anyway he had important business to attend to, Kerborg and Gripmaw stood watch outside as he exited, though not before a couple more rounds with the three sisters. "Any leads Kerborg?" Erasiel asked.

"Not much other then one of the witches said the Lighthaveners took them to Lightrock monastery, where that is we have no idea my lord" Kerborg responded.

"Well then we'll have to dedicate our efforts fully to finding them, also I have a coronation to attend" Erasiel stated.

Later the month on Coltaris…. Bloom stood before an audience in a lovely gown made for her, a man stood with a crown, a man she knew well, Erasiel Nathan Darkar. "By in the name of Asha the Queen of Phoenixes and by the authority of the Great Dragon Sharukanaath and of the Eternal Phoenix his sister Avadrasenii: I crown thee Queen Bloom the Avenger and the first of her name, long live the Queen!" Erasiel shouted and the crowd followed him in the chant, to the left side both Vanessa and Lighthorn smiled, both were dressed for the occasion, and on the right her fellow Winx and her other friends from all three schools cheered for her, above the Undines flew over the celebration.

Que Outro Music: We're the girls of the Winx Club! We're best friends and our hearts will beat as one! Yes, that's us! We're the girls of marvelous Winx Club! Winx! Winx Club! Energy! The Winx is warm! Under the sign of the Winx! Winx Club! Winx Club! We're the girls of the Winx Club! We're all tied to the same fate together! We're the girls! The wonder girls! That's us! The girls of the Winx Club. So happy to be flying from heaven to earth. This magic feeling! This is our Winx Club!

"All is right on Magix, but I have to search, I will find the Trix" Erasiel stated, looking out from the sky over Alfea.


	26. Arc 2 Prologue

Arc 2: Darkar Things

Prologue: A Foe from the Past

Shadowhaunt: Lord Argulus Darkar sat on his throne on either side was a table, on one table was his helmet and visor Black and Purple like the rest of his armor which he was currently, he had taken it off as he had been tired of wearing it, on the other was a book: his current novel: The Adventures of the Golden Sun, a Mercenary company's tale, also leaning against that table was a massive mace, his personal mace Nightbringer. At the Moment said Phoenix was busy brushing his long neck length blonde hair, his red eyes were focused on his current a mirror he was holding. Guards, armored Phoenix warriors, watched the entrance and stood watch on the room. Suddenly the door was flung open and the guards were flung against the wall, into the room marched another Phoenix, with pale scarred skin, shoulder length Blood red hair and eyes, he was clad in Crimson full plate armor with black and blue gemstones studding it and a giant orange gem in center, also he wore an amulet, at his side were two axes with spiked knuckle fists built into the handles, in his hand was a staff that menaced with spikes, to either side of him were warriors clad in armor with the heraldry of a Phoenix standing atop a thicket with skulls mixed in, also there were monsters made of tar to either side of these, and large 8 foot tall constructs in similar garb.

"Lord Darkar, your reign as the Lord of Shadowhaunt is over, as is the dominance of house Darkar, I am Abolithon and you know me, I have come for vengeance and more!" Abolithon stated, he was the Phoenix with the blood red hair.

"Abolithon, you weren't able to defeat my son, what makes you think you stand a chance against me" Argulus stated stepping up from his throne and grabbing his two-handed mace which he could wield in one hand, rising to his full 7-foot height.

"My powers have more than doubled since last we met also I have a few new tricks up my sleeve" Abolithon stated.

"Twice the Pride, double the Fall" Argulus stated and charged towards Abolithon, only to be thrown back, the staff in Abolithon's hand turned into a two-handed axe, a surge of magical energy coming out from it.

The two Phoenixes clashed, their weapons tearing into each other, suddenly Argulus felt overmatched something he hadn't felt in a long time, each blow from his mace Abolithon dodged, which was near impossible as the mace was not some unbalanced weapon, but a lightweight weapon made of Relix and wouldn't be so easy to dodge, which was what Abolithon was doing, suddenly he felt a lack of control over his movements, Abolithon was turning him about like he was rag doll; he recognized it as blood magic and asserted control, then he received a surge of magic blasting him across the room into the throne. "I warned you I have grown stronger; now you are weaker" Abolithon stated, Lord Darkar then realized his magic was being leeched from him, and he upped his wards to guard against this, but each blow was exhausting his wards and stretching them to breaking, he hadn't fought for a while and was out of practice, suddenly Argulus winced as he received a blow from behind, he turned and saw five Phoenix, three men two women, they were clad in black and red armor and wore helmets that masked their face, the blow was followed up by more than by strikes from Abolithon, who then flung him up into the ceiling. "I warned you I had grown stronger since we last met, don't bother summoning your guards, I've replaced most of them with my own, those who are yours are either at outposts far from Shadowhaunt or locked in your own dungeons, where you will soon be imprisoned, by the way I didn't introduced you to my children, Ambition deal with him!" Abolithon stated, then Lord Darkar received a blow from the center masked Phoenix, and he saw no more.

"Father Shadowhaunt is secure, General Seraloth reports that he has seen to the last of the defenders, we have total victory "Ambition stated.

"Excellent, Vengeance, Deception, take Lord Darkar to his own dungeon and lock him up; also make sure to put him in the worst cell" Abolithon ordered.

"It was newly refurbished father" one of the female Phoenixes stated.

"That is bad news Asarna, that changes things, take him to the newly refurbished cell that was once bad" Abolithon ordered, the two Phoenixes dragged the limp Lord Argulus Darkar away. "Victory my warriors, now we begin stage two: Ambition take some of your warriors and commandeer one of the Darkar Flying Castles so that we can head for the Tree of Life in the Gloomy-Wood Forest here on Magix, I want you to capture several Pixies, we need intel" Abolithon ordered. "Now we begin our search for the Codex and our quest for Relix, once our goal is achieved; House Shadowthorn will rise to supplant House Darkar" Abolithon continued, he sat on Lord Darkar's throne in triumph and placed his helmet on the table in place of Argulus's own, then put his own book on top of Argulus's, the book was titled Blood and Shadow: history of House Shadowthorn, he then took Argulus's mirror and looked at his scarred face. "Soon Erasiel you will face my wrath" Abolithon thought to himself.


	27. Arc 2 Chapter 1

Que Intro: "Open your Eyes! Open your heart! We are the Winx! Winx if your hand is holding mine, we can fly thru space and time and together we'll be surefire winners! Winx with a smile you can enchant, you'll light up our world! We'll fly the moonlit sky together! Open Your Eyes! Open Your Heart! We Are the Winx! It's a magic night, the sky is all blazing, new adventures are calling for us join the Winx! We can ride a cloud, no time for hesitating. Bring color to the world with your imagination! Winx Club forever and ever! Winx you're magical Winx! Among the Stars you are Winx! A Mystical Light, a Fire! Under the Sign of Winx! Magic stories that capture your heart, New emotions are flooding your soul. Stick with us! It's not easy, don't give up your dreams. Keep Battling for good! This fight will last Forever! Winx Club Forever and Ever! Winx if your hand is holding mine we can fly thru space and time and together we'll be sure fire winners, Winx with a smile you can enchant, you'll light up our world. We'll fly the Moonlit Sky together! Winx! you're magical Winx! A mystical Light a Fire under the Sign of Winx! Under the Sign of the Winx! Winx Club! Under the Sign of the Winx! Winx Club! Under the sign of Winx!

Chapter One: Of Pixies and Phoenixes

Erasiel wandered thru the Gloomy Wood, though the name was a misnomer at least as long as you weren't a Beastman, the forest was inhabited by creatures of life and good: Ents, Huorns, Dryads, Wood Elves, Halflings, Leprechauns, Centaurs, Sprites, Maenads, Nymphs of many kinds, Fauns, Satyrs, Unicorns both White and Black, Pegasai, Wood Trolls, and of course the Pixies. It was the Pixies of Pixieville he was going to visit, more specifically his wife Queen Ninfea though most pixies were his spouses. Erasiel had a duty from Sylvanna to protect the Tree of Life, it was one of the most important things in the Magic Dimension, were it to fall all creatures not Phoenixes or Dragons would die. To prevent that effect Sylvanna had created the races that dwelled in this forest and who had since expanded to many worlds of the Magic Dimension. The Pixies and Wood Trolls were the sworn defenders of the Tree of Life, the Pixies were mighty magic users and fierce warriors though small in stature they could use their magic to enlarge themselves to human size if need be and were deceptively strong, the Wood Trolls were mighty bemouths though their numbers were not as great as they were before the war of the Gloomy Wood. The War of the Gloomy Wood was between traitorous Wood Trolls and the Pixies and loyal Wood Trolls, the traitors desired full control of the Gloomy wood and the Tree of Life, because of their natural regeneration which was beyond that of normal Trolls, they were not able to die save by fire and that was something neither side dared use for risk of destroying the forest, in the end the traitors were defeated and for their crimes they were sealed far underground.

Despite the presence of many woodland creatures the Gloomy Wood still had paved roads and bridges due to the Elves and Halflings as well as the Satyrs and Fauns, these paths allowed those who would not do harm to the forest to pass thru, though along these paths Ents stood vigil looking like normal trees at first but revealing their presence to question travelers. Erasiel continued down the path to Pixieville and began to sing "The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began, now far ahead that road has gone and must follow if I can, pursuing it with eager feet until it joins some larger way, where many paths and errands meet and wither then I cannot say." Erasiel was clad in robes, they were blue and red with imagery of Phoenixes as well as stars and moons, he wore no hat, but on his shoulders were Kerborg and Gripmaw in bat form, both sang along with him as he used his staff as a walking stick as he normally did. The wood was full of life, as Erasiel sang the birds sang the rhythm of the song, as along the way he heard the singing of Elves and laughter of Nymphs. "I'm surprised it took me six months to go to this option to locate the Trix, using the Tree of Life to find them should have been the first thing I thought of" Erasiel thought to himself, he had finished singing the Road goes Ever on and on, and now sung the Melody of Minala and Kala; the two Phoenix sisters who were renowned as adventurers among his people, also they were his Broodmates; the song was of his sister Irietta's writing and went as follows. "The Fair twins who wander far from the star to star and nation to nation, journey along the winding paths and along their way they laugh their merry laughs away. Thru patient moor and silver lore, they journey far across the stars, they laugh their merry laughs away. With Relix spear and silver plate, they join across lands of late, through battles great and journeys plain they laugh their merry laughs away. They warm the bed of a mighty wanderer who aids the heroes and the lovely maids, their fairest skin their lovely hair proves they are maidens fair, with Relix blades they guard their maids and laugh their merry laughs away. Bearing stars, they wander far, they love to journey along the way, their lovely laughs are heard so loud and clear, they laugh their merry laughs away" Erasiel sung though in his own tongue, in his mind he thought of them, their flowing hair Minala's dark green hair in two pigtails that were the same as Musa's hair style and Kala's orange red hair in a long ponytail not to different from Icy's, their silver eyes, their green wings, their silver Relix plate their ample but perky breasts, their graceful hands and long green tails, their graceful legs, their spears of Relix, their twin Relix sabers worn on either hip, their large shields, their helms, and of course their merry laughs.

"Lord Erasiel do you miss them" Kerborg asked.

"Honestly I haven't seen them in a while, I did have them search for the Trix; so far no leads from them, not they aren't trying their best" Erasiel responded.

"Well I wish they were with us, I like it when those two talk about their adventures that they have when you aren't with them" Gripmaw stated.

"Indeed Gripmaw, on could write many ballads about their adventures and many have, but none rival the song I just sang, mainly because it was composed by Irietta and my sister is unrivaled in her compositions by anyone; I think I should pay her visit though she does a good job tending Scalespire in my absence" Erasiel replied, Scalespire was Erasiel's home, well his home among his own people and the greatest home he owned. "Irietta sweet Irietta, when this is over I'm heading back to Scalespire and we are going to do what we do best, show our love for each other" Erasiel added, he loved Irietta dearly, more than anyone else even Asha.

After about a half hour of walking during which more discussions were had Erasiel arrived at Pixieville, which was a step up from a Miniature city but was still well small relatively, each house was about the size of a dog house, larger buildings about the size of couches, and the tallest building in the city was about the size of a grandfather clock. Pixies themselves usual averaged about the size of your average teddy bear in their small form, in their large form they were the size of humans, though they didn't usually assume this form unless they were threatened or Erasiel needed to interact with them and he couldn't bother to make himself Pixie sized. Towering above all this was the Tree of life, it was a mix of branches that were blooming with flowers and leaves to some that had none, but one thing that was constant was a number of pops hanging on the tree about the size of a Tootsie Pop, these were part of Pixie evolution, whenever a pixie awakened their true talent they gained a their Pixie pop and became a Pop Pixie, these were far more powerful than a normal pixie and put them on par with powerful magical casters; there was also another trait Pixies had and that was that they were capable of bonding with other magic users to amplify their magical ability and multiple pixies could bound to a single person, this amplified the powers of both bonding partners but it had the side effect that both could feel whatever pain the other was on the receiving end of, but that was a minor drawback as the benefits more than outweighed the risks.

Speaking of Pixies, Pixieville was shockingly silent and empty as well, no sign or Pixies or Pixie pets, it was much like a ghost town. "Interesting very interesting" Erasiel stated to himself.

"I was about to say the same thing" a voice stated, female voice at that, Erasiel turned to see the origin of the voice, she was dark-skinned young woman with a medium brown complexion and long, curly mahogany brown hair and cerulean eyes. Her outfit comprised of a soft pink, sleeveless hoodie with denim capris that have a khaki cuff on the front and soft pink, hiking boots, she also wore a dark blue riding cloak. Her long brown hair was down, with pink clips at the end of her bangs and a long strand at the back from her bangs.

"Who are you and what are you doing here" Erasiel asked calmly.

"I was about to ask you the same question" the girl responded.

"My apologies then; I suppose I'll introduce myself, my name is Lord Erasiel Nathan Darkar, son of Lord Argulus Darkar and Lady Avarra 'Brightstone' Darkar, brother to Zephyr Darkar, Irietta Darkar, Eris Darkar and Arantir Darkar, also I am a Phoenix though you could probably tell by my feathery tail and your name is" Erasiel replied with a curt bow.

"My name is Ayesha, Princess of Andros, and Fairy, what are you doing here, I came here to visit my friends the Pixies" Ayesha stated.

"The same thing actually, I am their chief protector, but my duties are rather fluid to say the least, but my purpose here is well I need their help finding someone or rather multiple people that have gone missing and have been for six months and they have been rather difficult to find where they are, but now I have an entirely new set of disappearances on hand" Erasiel explained. "I find it disturbing usually the Pixies don't tend to go into hiding and they rarely need to, the other guardians of the forest keep them generally safe and they are capable enough fighters, more importantly there isn't much to go on" Erasiel commented.

"How do I know you aren't responsible for this" Ayesha stated.

"By the fact that I only just arrived and also by the fact that I am their King by marriage" Erasiel replied. "Anyway, you said you were Princess of Andros, that is interesting; the King of Andros is an old friend of mine though we haven't been in touch for years, but this is beside the point let's look for anything suspicious" Erasiel remarked. They then began to comb the general vicinity of Pixieville for anything out of place, notably the city itself had been relatively unscathed and the barrier was still in place, also there were no signs of a large fight so anyone responsible must have caught them completely by surprise.

After a couple minutes of searching they found a trail of footprints each slime covered. "This isn't normal" Ayesha stated.

"No, it isn't let me see" Erasiel stated, then he knelt down, Kerborg and Gripmaw were surveying the general area so he didn't have to worry about either of them on his shoulders. Erasiel put his fingers into the tracks and brought up some of the slime to him then sniffed it. "Tar, and not normal tar its grey rather than black and it's got magic in it; by the looks of things these are the tracks of a Tar monster, how something of that sort got this far into the woods let alone undetected is beyond me" Erasiel commented, then Gripmaw flew frantically to him. "What is it Gripmaw" Erasiel stated.

"Erasiel, I saw something you aren't going to believe it's in the sky and its moving fast and its way out of place and you aren't going to believe where it came from" Gripmaw explained, Erasiel then looked up and saw what Gripmaw had seen, it was a flying fortress, the literal kind as in a flying castle that was flying thru the clouds; his eyes were farsighted, beyond that of the human that his current form besides the tail, anyway, he could see clearly the fortress but far more importantly the banners on it they were the banners of House Darkar.

"What is it" Ayesha asked noting Erasiel looking out into the sky.

"Stolen property by the looks of things, specifically property stolen from my family" Erasiel stated, as he received more details from Kerborg who had rerouted his search on Gripmaw's say so and was now spying on the fortress and noted the guards they weren't wearing Darkar colors and most of them were not Phoenixes or Faceless either, most of them were tar monsters as well as towering constructs of Obsidian and steel; more importantly those that were Phoenixes were wearing the coat of arms of an unknown minor house, an interesting symbol as it was of crimson Phoenix nesting above a thicket of red thorns on a black background.

"How do you know that?" Ayesha asked.

"By the fact that my eyes don't deceive me and the fact they aren't flying Darkar colors; and more importantly by the fact that we are both going after it" Erasiel remarked, Ayesha shouted, "Ayesha Fairy of Waves: Charmix!" and assumed her Charmix form. Ayesha's Charmix outfit was a sparkly green one-shoulder top with sparkly green mini skirt atop green mini shorts and green calf-high boots. There was a green sash connecting her top and skirt, and several silver rings around her outfit and on her arms. Her wings were sky blue with mauve tips and were triangular in shape.

Meanwhile at Alfea…. A new School year had come, and only one more day until classes officially started, Bloom was setting up her things in her shared room with Flora, she wore a new outfit it consisted of a white and blue midriff with yellow hearts, a ruffled denim skirt, blue and white knee socks, blue wedges, a yellow arm band and a blue headband with a yellow heart. Flora stood over the window seal putting pots with her plants next to it so that they could get sunlight. "Hey Bloom" Diaspro greeted, she had finished setting up her room and she wore an outfit similar to Bloom's only it was orange and white striped with regard to the shirt and she wore a silken orange skirt with orange stockings, Bloom could also see a garter belt hanging out of her skirt, she wore her hair in the same style as she usually did and wore her usual silver headband tiara and wore a garnet broach in her hair. "Great to see you, I just finished setting up my half of Stella's and my shared dorm room, love the new outfit good to see friends think alike" Diaspro stated.

"Thanks, Diaspro, hey you might want to pull up your skirt a bit more, your garter belt is showing" Bloom commented, and Diaspro adjusted her skirt frantically.

"Thanks for that save Bloom; wouldn't want Griselda to see that and chew me out for it" Diaspro remarked. Suddenly there was a knock on the main dorm door. Bloom opened the door to see a girl she didn't recognize. The girl was beautiful, she had a light complexion, brown hair in a pixie haircut, and amber eyes. She wears a khaki coat with a purple collar and a blue buckle hanging where it would be clipped with a blue and light blue striped scarf and orange pants. Her shoes are purple ankle boots.

"Hey Bloom, sorry I'm Francis, I we had Professor Palladium's class last year and I've been assigned to your dorm" the girl identified as Francis explained.

"I'm sorry if I don't remember you Francis, it was hard to focus in Professor Palladium's class last year" Bloom stated.

"Don't worry about it, it was a madhouse, but that's beside the point I asked to be reassigned to your dorm" Francis explained.

"Why is that?" Stella asked coming out of her dorm, she was in a new outfit; Stella's Back-to-school outfit was a light purple, halter neck style, top with a crisscross on the front. She wore matching mid-length purple trousers and orange and yellow wedges. For her accessories, she had a red beaded bracelet, earrings, and a belt along with her purple headband.

"Oh of course, sorry the other girls in my dorm were captured by the Lighthaveners last year, and while it was nice having the whole dorm to myself I missed having people with me; so, I asked to be assigned to your dorm, you have an extra room that nobody is using so Headmistress Faragonda said I could use that" Francis explained.

"Well then welcome to the Winx Dorm" Bloom stated. "Also welcome to the Winx Club Bloom added, which caused both Diaspro and Stella to stare at her.

"What? She's going to live the same dorm with us might as well let her join the club while we're at it, it's not like we established rules on who could and can't join" Bloom stated.

"Well that said I trust your judgement Bloom" Diaspro stated, her surprise turning to a smile.

"Well what the heck, I don't have to worry, but first things first we must see to making sure you are ready for the induction" Stella stated to Francis.

"We don't have an induction ceremony Stella" Bloom responded.

"Well we really should, that a team outfit; I really should think about that" Stella commented.

"Ignore her, bring up fashion and she'll be thinking on the subject for hours" Bloom commented, she then proceeded to lead Francis to the empty dorm room which had been that way since last year; Francis had with her two suitcases which she then put on one of the two beds.

"I wonder why there was an opening here in the first place" Francis wondered.

"I don't have any idea" Bloom stated.

Meanwhile…. Erasiel and Ayesha had caught up to the fortress and approached from the underside. "Here, take my hand, there are secret portal room that only Darkars know about, if we teleport inside we can work our way in without being detected" Erasiel stated, "Before you ask if I had anything to do with this whole thing I would have already killed you or taken you captive, I've done no such thing so trust me on this" Erasiel commented.

"Alright but if you try anything I'll pour molten Morphix plasma in your eyes" Ayesha commented, Erasiel took her hand and as promised he teleported inside, Kerborg and Gripmaw stood vigil outside.

"Now we are in, here stay quiet" Erasiel stated, Ayesha stayed silent Erasiel then listened at the walls, to anyone outside the portal room the room would appear as a normal wall; Erasiel knew full well about these rooms, his father had them put in during the Phoenix Wars as the means to deal with hijackers, construction of these rooms was done by him and his silent workers, these faceless were architects who didn't talk as they communicated solely telepathically; no one on the ship knew about these rooms nor did they know they were here.

"Good, we are clear, no one is nearby, now for phase one of our plan, first things first we move quietly, stealth is our only defense for the moment if we lose it we will be overwhelmed, secondly we have to find the Pixies and I have a means to do that, third we free the Pixies and get out of here ASAP, any questions" Erasiel explained.

"Yes, for starters how do we move about without being seen?" Ayesha asked. To this Erasiel dug into one of the bags at his side and pulled out a long piece of fabric which was actually a cloak, and then pulled out another cloak.

"Here wear this, it is an invisibility cloak, bar bumping into anything we won't be seen, as to how we are going to move about without giving off noise, there are side passages only accessible from this room, they lead to hallways that usually end off, our enemies may be numerous but I doubt they have covered all the passageways, plus I have another ace to make sure we do watch" Erasiel said, the Faceless rose to attention and assumed his true form, Erasiel then went to one of the walls, it opened to reveal a room with computer consoles as well as screens for viewing the entire fortress.

Erasiel then stepped up to the chair and entered a password into the computer, the screens lit up showing several corridors near the portal, some were patrolled but most weren't. "Now here is where the fun part begins" Erasiel stated then tapped the computer and the wall of that room opened up to reveal a smaller portal. "This gate opens a one-way portal to whichever corridor we want" Erasiel explained. Then he spent a few minutes checking cameras till he found the room of interest, the camera showed a specialized room in which several Pixies were being held in. "And now we know where they are we need to go to the corridor closest to them that is unguarded" Erasiel explained then implemented the coordinates.

"So that's it, all it took was some use of a computer to find them" Ayesha asked.

"Yep! Now it's up to us to free them; cloaks on and let's move" Erasiel stated.

"But what about the guards?" Ayesha asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it; hopefully our pixienappers aren't the sharpest tools in the bag otherwise well; we rush them and pray" Erasiel responded.

Erasiel deactivated everything bar the portal which he had set, the entered the portal and exited it in a hallway, the halls were decorated with fine rugs and with tapestries and banners of House Darkar; in addition, armor suits adorned the halls, as well as paintings of notable Darkars and their accomplishments. The wandered down this halls, sometimes stopping to avoid the guards, these consisted of Tar Monsters which couldn't smell them, constructs that couldn't see them, as well as Faceless that couldn't see them, and Phoenixes that were unaware of them. They continued thru these paths till they came to a door, this was guarded by two towering armored golems which stood tall in dark crimson and purple armor and stood vigil, their heads were those of masked men and they clutched a halberd in one hand and a shield in another. For this situation Erasiel had a solution to deal with them: Erasiel pulled out his dagger, then told it mentally exactly where to strike, and threw it, the blade spun and beheaded both guards with the precision of an executioner's axe and then came back to him; Erasiel then took the key off of one of the guards and unlocked and opened the door.

Erasiel and Ayesha ducked inside and shut the door quietly behind them, then then opened the door to the antechamber where the Pixies were being held prisoner in a specialized cell. There were 12 in total. The First Pixie had pink hair resembling Tecna's with even cut-straight bangs and teal-green flower hair pins. Her skin appeared to be fair in color while her eyes are green with purple eyelashes. Her lips are pinkish in tone. She wore a pink laced dress with a blue keyhole shaped tie and green-blue lace up boots. Her wings were light blue and swirl/curl inward on the ends. The Second Pixie had tanned-brown skin, wore a light pink puffy-sleeved dress and green headband with roses attached. Her wings were also green and they slightly resembled Stella's. Her hair is a dark magenta color, which is long and always worn down. Her eyes are dark blue, her lips appear to be a dark maroon color. The third Pixie had long, curly bronze-gold pigtails, bangs, and slightly tanned skin with big amber eyes. She wore a lighter green version of Ayesha's fairy outfit without the sash and a shirt like Icy's signature shirt. Overall, she resembled Stella in appearance and in mannerisms. Her wings are blue color. She also wore panties under her skirt which have the same color as her outfit. She had green boots on her feet and appeared to be the tallest of the pixies bar one the forth pixie. The Forth Pixie wore a cream fluffy scarf around her neck. She wears a bee like coat with cream fluff on the end of the sleeves, yellow shorts and black boots. She wears a pair of yellow goggles with a pair of antennas connected to it. She has light salmon skin, short bob haircut, purple hair and bright purple wings. She was the tallest of the pixies. The Fifth Pixie had pale purple hair styled in curls and a Victorian-style outfit in purple, white, and blue with a blue bow in her hair. She wore pink make-up that makes sharp points above her eyes, a fair skin tone (recalling the Victorian fashion popular among aristocrats of applying powder to their faces to whiten it), and violet eyes. Her wings were purple with a purple glow. The Sixth Pixie was very futuristic looking, wearing a light blue/dark blue quasi jumpsuit with a skirt that left her navel bare and blue mullet styled hair with a light blue streak down the middle she wore a golden headset in her hair reminiscent of headphones, but this was like a crown it was made of gold and studded with pink gems. Her wings were blue with a yellow outline. Erasiel immediately recognized the seventh Pixie as he knew her dearly, because she was his daughter Piff the Pixie of Sweet Sleep and one of his twins with Ninfea: Piff, like Aisha, is dark-skinned, with soft light green eyes. She is dressed in a pair of cream-colored striped pajama pants with red piping. Her little tank top is rose pink with cream spots. On her head she wears a darker rose-pink puffy nightcap with dark cream spots, a light cream headband and trimming, and a dark maroon ribbon tying it down in addition to a small tiara denoting her royal position; Her little wings were bright pink, and she had no lower wings as she hadn't finished growing yet. The Eighth Pixie was a slightly tanned-skinned Pixie with bright sea blue eyes and dark blue eyelashes. Above her right eye is a sky-blue mark; while on her left is a darker blue mark. Her hair is sandy blonde with a curly flip, reaching her neck while her bangs are very short and pulled back. She wears a magenta teardrop shaped hair clip. she wore a blue and light green colored shirt, resembling an envelope, blue shorts with a single dark blue line going down the side, matching her shirt; along with sky blue wristbands and angel wing anklets. Her wings were blue and sparkly, resembling insect wings. The Ninth Pixie was an infant and had light skin, wore a dark orange hat with two light orange puffs with a string on the end. She wore a puffy yellow striped orange jumpsuit. She has orange eyes and orange lashes and had wings that look like orange fan-like bugs. The Tenth Pixie had light skin, long pink hair, and brown eyes. She wore a blue dress with green striping on the waist and knees, she also wore pink pants with white spots and had white triangular wings. The Eleventh Pixie had purple eyes. She also had red hair, which was braided and tied with an orange ribbon. Some of her sideburns are curled. She wore an orange sleeveless jumpsuit. Its pockets have an even darker orange tone. The outline of the shorts is teal. She had a flashlight on her head that was tied with a yellow ribbon. She had teal sleeves that partially covered her arms. She wore teal high socks, which is mostly covered by her brown boots. Her wings were orange and were gem like in appearance and were dragonfly style. The Last Pixie had fair skin and wore a yellow tank top with light blue frills on the straps of her top, along with a matching yellow skirt and a big teal blue bow at her chest. She wore lilac-pink boots and yellow flowers in her hair which was in pigtails, her wings were yellow and like those of a moth.

"Now to the matter of setting you Pixies free" Erasiel stated.

"How do you plan to do that" Ayesha asked, Erasiel didn't responded, he simply took his staff, pressed a button on the center and extended it into a glaive, he then struck the base of the cell disabling the field.

"We're free!" the Pixies shouted.

"Now we have to get out of here" Ayesha commented, they left the room but the door they intended to leave by was locked tight, also they heard the sound of clapping, and certain phoenix with crimson armor and blood-red hair got up from a chair in the adjacent room, said room had a large pit in the center.

"Well done, well done indeed, but you see I have plans for those Pixies and they don't include you escaping with them" Abolithon stated.

"No way, Abolithon? How did you escape for Vortas, more importantly how the hell did you manage capture this fortress?" Erasiel asked flabbergasted by the appearance of this old foe of his, well old would be pushing it as far as age Abolithon was about 2,000 years old which for a Phoenix was young compared to Erasiel certainly, but Abolithon was still a formidable enemy.

"Indeed Erasiel, well for starters your home of Shadowhaunt has fallen, your father Argulus is imprisoned in his own dungeon along with most of his warriors those that aren't are far from being able to take it" Abolithon explained.

"You're bluffing, there's no way you managed to beat my father one on one, much less defeat my son Shaaradan and the entire Eternal guard" Erasiel retorted.

"Your son was not at Shadowhaunt when we attacked neither were his warriors, secondly my powers have far more then grown since we last met, I'm more powerful now then any Phoenix of house Darkar even you" Abolithon stated.

"Twice the pride double the fall Abolithon" Erasiel retorted then readied his magic.

"You don't stand a chance" Ayesha stated.

"Like father like son" Abolithon stated then sent out a surge of energy which Erasiel countered barely, then Abolithon sent out another blast of Blood magic and his knocked Erasiel against a wall.

"You'll pay for that!" Ayesha roared then readied to attack. "Morphix blast!" Ayesha casted, sending a blast of Morphix plasma at Abolithon who easily blocked it.

"How amusing, you will pay for challenging me: Asrak Metreon Razdeath!" Abolithon responded, suddenly Ayesha felt her limbs go limp and she turned back into her civilian form she wasn't in control of her movements, though she managed to put up a Morphix shield which Abolithon broke with his talon-like hands. "I don't suffer challengers more importantly one so weak; you have elected the way of pain!" Abolithon shouted, then he flung her against a wall and Erasiel who was in the way, knocking Erasiel of his feet as he had just recovered, then flung her into another wall, Ayesha was blooded by these strikes, which was followed up by more as Abolithon inflicted pain on her as he moved her like she was a ragdoll, Ayesha screamed; Abolithon then flung Ayesha up to the ceiling hurting her badly. "You've amused me, now I'm going to make you fly, out the door" Abolithon yelled, then dropped Ayesha down the pit in the center of the room as she screamed.

"NO AYESHA!" Erasiel yelled, he charged forward whacking Abolithon with his staff, then jumped out the hole followed by the Pixies, Abolithon sent out a magical net which trapped all but two of the Pixies who quickly followed Erasiel.

Erasiel dived grabbing Ayesha with his hands, dropping his staff which Kerborg grabbed as he and Gripmaw joined him: Erasiel had however reached a speed in which he was rapidly descending to the ground. "Oh crap" Erasiel said has made impact, which was followed up by him shouted ouch multiple times as bounced across a hill and landed in thorn bush and was soon stuck by thistles.

"YEOWOUCH!" Erasiel yelled, Kerborg and Gripmaw dawned their true forms and pulled him out.

"Are you alright my lord?" Kerborg asked.

"Just flesh wounds, nothing that I can't clear off easily, its Ayesha who's hurt badly; she was brave to take on Abolithon, but she was far out of her league, in fact I was nearly out of my league with my use of power there, I can't believe how powerful he's gotten, there is no way; he must have an artifact of some kind, now where are the pixies" Erasiel stated.

"We are here" one of the two pixies, the fourth Pixie, who was with the eighth pixie.

"You two only, well I guess our mission wasn't a complete failure; what are your names?" Erasiel replied using a spell to clean off the thistles and thorns.

"I'm Zing, Pixie of Insects" the purple haired pixie stated.

"And I'm Livy, Pixie of Speed" the Blonde-haired pixie stated.

"Well glad to meet you" Erasiel stated, as he shook their hands they all felt a surge of power run thru them. "No way" Erasiel stated shocked.

"We just bonded" Zing stated.

"Yeah me too" Livy added.

"I've knew Pixies could bound with magic users, but this is the first time this has happened to me and I've been around Pixies for Millennia, I'm the chief protector of the Pixies as well as the person who breeds with them, well not counting those who come from the Tree of Life itself" Erasiel stated.

"Well maybe you hadn't met the right Pixie" Livy commented.

"You're right, the pixie in question has to be compatible with the person they bound with otherwise they won't form a bond" Erasiel stated. "But I can't discuss this right now Ayesha; she's hurt badly; she'll need medical attention" Erasiel stated, then he noticed he was overlooking Alfea College. "There, come on we have to get there to Alfea!" Erasiel explained then grabbed Ayesha and took off at a run, followed by Zing, Livy, Kerborg and Gripmaw at the same speed, Erasiel then jumped off the cliff then ran off unscathed and ran thru the main gate, into the Winx.

"Nathan!?" Bloom exclaimed.

"Hi Bloom, no time to explain have to get Ayesha here to the nurse fast!" Erasiel stated running past Bloom and the other Winx who immediately ran after him, Erasiel dashed thru the halls past an irate Griselda who shouted at him for running.

"No time, Emergency! One more word and you're grounded Griselda!" Erasiel yelled at her, then dodged her, he was followed by the Winx, the Pixies and the Faceless, who sent Griselda's skirt and tail flying upward. Erasiel dashed into the nurse's office and placed Ayesha on a bed, her clothes were torn up and she was gashed with some bloody wounds, Nurse Ofelia who had seen Erasiel run in came up to Erasiel.

"Erasiel what happened here, also you're hurt" Nurse Ofelia stated.

"I'm fine, just flesh wounds, I'll regen them quickly, Ayesha's the one who needs medical attention, she was just thrown around like a ragdoll by Phoenix named Abolithon using blood magic!" Erasiel stated.

"Well I'll see to her immediately, I'm a doctor however not a miracle worker so it will take me a bit" Ofelia explained.

"Good call me when she's better, wait Kerborg! Gripmaw!" Erasiel stated and the two Faceless who had arrived with the Winx and Erasiel's bounded Pixies stood at attention. "Stay with Ayesha till she recovers, let me know when she has, I'm heading back to Pixieville, obviously Abolithon hadn't captured all the Pixies" Erasiel stated.

"Yes, he hasn't, when we were attacked Queen Ninfea gave orders to hide in the Tree of Life and wait for our warriors to return with the Wood Trolls and the Centaurs" Livy explained.

"Thanks for the info Livy, now the three of us better get going fast, in fact that means I can find the Trix" Erasiel commented.

"Can we come with you?" Bloom asked.

"No, I need you to keep an eye on Ayesha, see that she gets the help she needs also tell Faragonda about this" Erasiel responded, then bolted along with Zing and Livy, they dashed out of the Nurse office and into the Courtyard and took off. "Hey Livy, you're the pixie of speed can you do anything to help us move faster" Erasiel asked.

"Yes, I can: Gale-speed!" Livy casted, accelerated the three of them to 20 knots, they flew over the woods, then the Black Mud Swamp, then Magix City and arrived in the Gloomy Wood at the Tree of Life.

Erasiel took a look around, Pixieville had become lively again, Pixie warrior stood at attention as he arrived, they were clad in Relix armor and wielded spears, glaives, axes, swords and shields made from that same material, some Pixies, smiths specifically had the ability to draw raw Relix out of the Relix Dimension and then forge it into powerful magical equipment, with the pixies were Wood Trolls clad in Relix plate and carrying two-handed Relix maces, and Centaurs with their bows and swords. "King Darkar it is good to see you!" One of the Pixies greeted "And you've returned with Zing and Livy, Queen Ninfea told us you two had been captured" another stated.

"No time for talk, I need to speak with Ninfea, also maximum alert, Piff was taken prisoner along with a number of others and they are still being held captive, Abolithon recaptured them when we made our escape, but I want everyone on alert, Abolithon's warriors could return at any time" Erasiel stated.

"Yes, your majesty!" the Pixies shouted out, Erasiel then shrunk to Pixie size and into pixie form and moved about Pixieville until he arrived at Ninfea's castle.

Queen Ninfea rushed out to greet him. "Erasiel, thank goodness, I've been trying to contact you, I spoke with a Faceless and sent him to find you, however I have terrible news" Ninfea stated out of breath.

"No need I know quite well just made a rescue attempt, Abolithon's back, I'm going to mount a rescue, but I need help more importantly I need to rescue some people, I don't know where they are, I need you to use the Tree of Life to find them" Erasiel replied.

"I see well I can help with that" Ninfea replied, Ninfea had light salmon skin, lilac eyes with a more pinkish lilac eyeshadows and salmon lips. Her hair resembles a flower bulb, is green, short and hold by her golden crown with a lilac oval gem on its center and with white details at the sides. Her wings are pointy, lime green at the borders and the inside light yellow and she holds with her left hand a gold scepter with a round lilac gem at the top. With green gloves, a lilac oval gem at her chest and a light-yellow crest at the front, her clothe varies from: a gold gale dress accompanied by a gold cape with the inside lilac/gold, or a lilac gale dress with short gold sleeves and a gold tunic.

Erasiel and Ninfea flew up to the Tree of Life followed by Zing and Livy. "I'm glad to see you managed to rescue some of those pixies; Zing Livy, I am so glad to see you two are alright" Ninfea stated.

"More than alright your majesty, we've bounded" Zing explained to Ninfea's surprise.

"With Erasiel?" Ninfea asked.

"Yep!" Livy stated as they arrived at the Tree.

"Now I need you to find three people, specifically the Trix sisters, Icy Stormy and Darcy, and the exact location of Lightrock Monastery" Erasiel explained.

"I can do that; Tree of Life, mother to our race, show us the place of Lightrock Monastery and where the Trix are hidden" Ninfea stated, muttering the spell, the tree projected an image of the Trix in captivity, they were clad in the same outfit: they each wore a white robe with several blue buttons and a navy-blue belt around her waist. She also wore sandals and a glowing lime green headband which Erasiel recognized as magic suppresser, on top of that they were in their civilian form as Erasiel could tell by Darcy's glasses which she didn't wear in their civilian form, they all seemed completely bored. The image then zoomed out to show the Monastery proper and that it was on hill overlooking Lake Roccaluchee.

"In plain sight, why am I not surprised" Erasiel stated. "Now I'll have to organize a rescue, Ninfea keep an eye out and see what you can find out in my absence, also full alert, no one is enter near Pixieville unless you know them, and then they must be cleared" Erasiel ordered.

"Yes, my dear; also, be careful and bring our daughter back" Ninfea stated.

"Is Piffy ok" Erasiel asked referring to Piff twin sister.

"Yes, she is alright" Ninfea stated.

"Good now I must be off" Erasiel stated, then opened a portal to Ygg-Chall.


	28. Arc 2 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Back To Their Old Trix: With Some New Ones Thrown In

Ygg-Chall: August 24: 2005: 2:15 pm

Erasiel Darkar had sent heralds throughout his realm of Ygg-Chall: the Dark Elves would answer him for he was their King, the heralds specifically called out the most powerful Warlords, Warlocks, Sorceresses, Bull Lords and other vassals to a War council. Within record time the summoned leaders arrived at the council chambers; there were many leaders in the Kingdom of Ygg-Chall however Erasiel required only a select few; specifically, the Inner Council of 50; 50 of the most powerful and smartest in the Kingdom's network of leaders which were consisted of Dark Elves, Blood Elves, Night Goblins, Troglodytes, Minotaurs, Beastmen, some Dwarves, Lighthaveners who renounced their mad gods and converted to any of the local faiths and even a few Skavan; though the last required constant checks on loyalty. In fact, each faction did, this kingdom was one forged with centuries of blood on Erasiel's part to unite these warring underground peoples; using careful diplomacy to make sure each refrained from infighting amongst the others and by keeping them completely aware of who was on top of this political ladder and who had constant spies making sure they behave and assassins who would deal with them if they didn't. Measures like these were necessary to keep control of people who had trust issues especially the kind known for being duplicitous; namely the Skavan and Dark Elves.

Erasiel had outlawed slavery in the domain; bar two practices; the keeping of personal concubines and bed-slaves for personal harems which were kept out of sight of foreigners, though to call them slaves would be slightly incorrect as these women were so well treated and were essentially part of the families, as well as the taking of captives in battle, these captives were chiefly Skavan, Lighthaveners who sent many zealous crusades to purge the underground of heretics, Morden left over from the war of the Ancestresses who still had significant populations, Krug; goblinoid creatures with limited intelligence, and Sargans which were Mushroom peoples not to be confused with the more pleasant Plump helmet men, among other races that dwelled underground and were unknown to the civilized races down there; basically anyone who fought the Kingdom of Ygg-Chall would taken and enslaved; all slave treatments however were kept to measured restraint, each had a chance to earn their freedom in time and their masters were barred from torturing them for amusement.

However, they still needed the enjoyment of watching others die in brutal fashion and that was where the arenas and coliseums came into play: a place where gladiators fought for the entertainment of the audience; Gladiators were either slaves trained to fight for the audiences enjoyment or warriors from the many races that made up Ygg-Chall all looking to enhance their combat skills and receive a finder's fee from any bets made in the arena both on and against. Not everyone who entered the arena however was a Gladiator; criminals and prisoners of war ended up in the arena to prove their worth and earn their freedom; save the Lighthaveners only the Lighthaven woman were spared from the arena and had to serve as concubines, while the men both warriors and not were thrown in the arena specifically to die and if they survived long enough and renounced their faith they would be allowed to live in Ygg-Chall as citizens they were not allowed to return to Lighthaven ever again.

Erasiel and the Inner Circle were clad for war; each member wore the finest armor all of it being enchanted and made by the finest smiths in Ygg-Chall; each of the races that called the Kingdom of Ygg-Chall home had a member of their race in the Inner Circle and more than one; the Inner Circle however only represented the most powerful vassals; thus only the best were called for this mission; which if successful would began a series of campaigns: Erasiel had sent Faceless spies to scout out Lightrock Monastery and had made sure to have them spy out the exact strength of the defenses; Erasiel had two goals; one was to liberate the captives of the Lighthaveners and two was to capture as much artifacts, relics, books, and papers of all sort; above all though he wanted a map specifically one of every monastery that was in the territories of the forces of Order; thanks to magical portals created by House Darkar during the Phoenix Wars the Kingdom of Ygg-Chall had a presences in the underground of most worlds in the Magic Dimension; these portals allowed trade with each realm that they were allied to but also allowed them to move their armies to help allies or battle enemies. Erasiel's hope was for a victory that carried out both his primary and secondary objectives; specifically, to capture a map of all monasteries of the Lighthaveners in Order Space so that he could use the knowledge to attack each Monastery and destroy them; making sure that Lighthaven could not use these to launch attacks behind the lines of Order factions in the event of another Grand Crusade. The purpose of the attack was to leave no Lighthaveners to tell the tale of the attack, because as long as there were no survivors the Lighthaveners couldn't finger anyone for the attacks as they could be easily attributed to Beastmen or other threats.

In the center of the room was a large holoprojection table which had a complete lay out of the Monastery. "Gentlemen and Ladies; I wouldn't have summoned you if this wasn't a matter of the most importance to me and to our nation as a whole but you may trust me that it is: I instructed each of you to bring your most elite warriors: this for the mission" Erasiel explained he was clad in his Elven battle armor but wore the crown of Ygg-Chall on his helm; on his shoulders Zing and Livy sat watching the room. On either side of Erasiel sat two Elven Queens; the sisters Ylaya and Shadya. Ylaya was the older of the two she had long snow white hair in which was a crown made of similar design to Erasiel's crown; she was beautiful and had chalk-white skin of the kind normal to Dark Elf sorceresses of which she was one and the most powerful one at that; she wore a lavender gown over which was armor; forged of Adamantium and layered with protective runes but was as light as a feather; her figure was graceful and well-endowed she was tall about 6 feet if she stood up. Her twin sister Shadya was of similar build and height and identical in beauty though she had black hair and normal skin as her sister was a rare albino of her race; but other than that, they were identical; she wore a crimson gown over which was a coat of plates and a cuirass over that; both of which were made of Adamantium. Both sisters held in their hand staves made for magic users; and at her sides were curved and cruel swords that Dark Elves favored. To the side of Shadya sat an Elf who was clad in full plate made of Adamantium and studded with Warpstone and runes and had on his back a great sword and shield made of the same material as well as an axe at side made of the same material; he wore no helm at the moment and had thick long shoulder-length black hair with a streak of crimson in it, his skin was fair skinned, his build athletically strong he eyes were brown and on his head he wore a crown of mithril but the one thing that distinguished him the most from other Dark Elves in attendance was his long purple feathered tail for he was Narquiel the son of Erasiel and Shadya; the Heir to Ygg-Chall and the most powerful Warlock in the kingdom.

"Father what is the purpose of this mission?" Narquiel asked.

"Indeed, I would like to know what it was that required me to come halfway across the Empire to the Capital and away from my pressing research" A female elf stated; she was beautiful had a busty figure, she had spikey blonde hair in which she wore a golden diadem; she wore armor over a gown and had a staff in her left hand; and on either side she had an Axe.

"Yes-yes what-what has brought Phoenix-Emperor such urgency; tell-tell Lord Risquitte yes-yes" a White furred Skavan Warlord who was clad in magma-forged Warpstone and Adamantium armor and wore a crested helm, at either side he had a weapon on the right Falchion and on the left a Warhammer.

"I am glad you have asked my dear Queen Yrr'beth and Lord Risquitte of Clan Hexit: this is a rescue mission as well as mission to loot and raze the site in question: I have specific objectives in mind; in the Battle of Magix a number of students from Red Fountain, Alfea and Cloud Tower were taken captive by the Lighthaveners; our primary goal is to free them from captivity along with any others the Lighthaveners have imprisoned there; our secondary goals are two fold; capture any and all artifacts, relics, books, and papers the Lighthaveners have, and to capture and or kill all the Lighthaveners present; capture mainly, kill only those who resist save the women, those are to be taken to my personal harem; the captives are to be given two options; they are either to join us, or thrown into the arena for our gladiators to do with as they please, no Lighthaveners are allowed to escape; Lethos I have orders to the Assassins kill any Lighthavener that tries to flee the monastery, we are not to let any witnesses escape; of this council I will select four members to accompany me; since Yrr'beth and Lord Risquitte were so kind as volunteer already the other two I will chose are Narquiel and Shadya, the rest of you will wait here if we are able to get our hands on a map of the other Monasteries your orders will be to carry out the same mission to each of those Monasteries; from your forces I asked you to bring your most elite; I will select from those forces an group of 750 for the mission, the Lighthaven guardians consist of only 100 defenders most novices who haven't seen combat; 750 should be enough to surround the Monastery and cut off any escape; I cannot understate how important this mission is and how important it is to carry out without any word of what happened to get back to the Lighthaven Templar council; with that out of the way I am limited the force to infantry only nothing larger the a Minotaur will fit inside the Monastery therefore no War beasts will be allowed on this mission specifically, any follow up monastery attacks use your imagination" Erasiel explained. The members of the Council nodded in agreement, they then sent for their most effective officers and had them bring forth their best men, each commander would have 150 soldiers under their command, each one had different objectives; Erasiel and Narquiel's job was to free the captives; while Shadya would handle artifacts and relics, Yrr'beth would handle books and scrolls, and Risquitte would handle the capturing of any and all Lighthaveners they could.

Soon an elite force was gathered: Dark Elf infantry among which spearmen, repeater-crossbowmen, swordsmen, halberdiers and Executioners (Dark Elves wielding Great axes and Great swords who wore skull masks into battle) Blood Elf war-maidens and Sisters of Slaughter who wore light to no armor and valued speed and graceful weapons above all else, Minotaur heavy infantry, Goblin infantry and archers, Skavan Stormvermin, Dwarven warriors, Troglodyte warriors clad in heavy armor and wield blades forged by them, and expatriate Lighthaveners; all wore black and purple colored armor and all wore the finest armor, all were battle-hardened and had years of experience, and all were ready to follow orders.

"Warriors of Ygg-Chall by now your Officers have informed you of our mission, I ask only a few things of you, liberate all captives, capture Lighthaveners at all possible, of the plunder I claim only the women, girls, magical artifacts, weapons, relics and tomes, as well as books of any type, the rest of the spoils are yours save the battle captives they are to given the option of joining our side or the are to be thrown into the arena, those are my orders" Erasiel explained to the warriors, to his side was a woman clad in in a black cloak that covered her body who Erasiel turned to. "It is time for you to prove yourself and for a family reunion" Erasiel explained. Zing and Livy flew over to Erasiel.

"What can we do to help" Zing asked.

"Well can you assume a human form, if so you could be of extreme use" Erasiel replied, Zing and Livy transformed and grew into human sized pixies; well they resembled faeries as this point; they both however were busty, though Zing was more athletically built and about 1 ½ cup size larger Livy in that department having EE-cups vs Livy's D's and they wore the same outfits as when they were smaller. Zing had drawn two Katanas that had been at her side in her smaller form.

"I'm not sure what use I can be; I think it will be better for me to stay here, I don't have any combat spells, Zing has her insect control spells and her summons I'm just good at making things fast" Livy remarked.

"In that case then Livy, stay here, Zing and I will handle this" Erasiel replied.

"Yes, Let's give these Lighthaven guys good butt-whooping" Zing remarked, with a smirk on her face.

Meanwhile…

It was another bright boring day at Lightrock Monastery and as they had been the past few months; the Trix were of course bored, tremendously so. "It's so abnormally peaceful here it's; well annoying and maddening" Stormy stated, they were currently in park outside of Lightrock and facing towards Magix City, something which was a symbol for freedom to them. The main place of this park was a general clearing with a small number of oak trees dotted about along with a cobblestone path which benches were there; usually these benches were occupied by holographic figures of Lighthaven story telling, currently it was occupied by the holo-figures of Romeo and Juliet; unlike Shakespeare's famous play of the same name the Lighthaven version of this story was not a tragedy and both main characters lived happily ever after.

"So bland, this is the third time today they've reenacted their love for each other; I miss Erasiel" Darcy stated with a longing and distant hope in her eyes.

"We have to keep our heads straight, at least we are still alive, and we have our dignity, and no part of our body has been soiled by Lighthaveners and most importantly we aren't going to be used as a bonfire anytime soon" Icy stated, she was implacable and not going to let their current circumstances get them

"I know that Erasiel will come and find us" Darcy stated hopefully.

"Please it's been six months, do you think he's really coming for us" Stormy stated sarcastically, she wasn't being pessimistic they knew at the moment Erasiel had no idea where they were and that he would have to search far and wide for them. They all wore a white robe with several blue buttons and a navy-blue belt around her waist. They also wore sandals and a glowing aqua headband, this headband neutralized their ability to use magic while they wore it and any attempt to take it off would result in severe pain via an electrical shock on Darcy's and Icy's part and a sonic screech on Stormy's account, they had tries a number of times to remove their headbands and those of other captives however the results had been well failures, so that had since given up on that approach, the most annoying thing was that they had to wear the same outfit, in appearance not the specific, each day, and on top of that they got little privacy, the only time they did was in the bathroom, at any other time they were being watched, either by the normal monks and nuns, or by the warrior novices and monks, and by the few priests, overall the Trix noted that were they not wearing their headbands they could easily overpower the defenders, free the other captives and escape.

"Our weather forecast for the next hundred years is a nice toasty 79 degrees with constant sun and not a cloud in the sky and zero percent chance of rain" a Speaker attached to the tree stated the voice was that of the news monk Brother Titirus, another thing those speakers were everywhere, they completely dictated the daily routine and on top of that they could hear what you said, what followed was the annoying music.

"Not this again" Icy stated covering her ears.

"I hated the real version of this song" Darcy remarked breaking the fourth wall. The most annoyed of the three was Stormy.

"THAT'S IT! I've had enough of this I'm going to deal with this right now" Stormy yelled, yanking the speaker off of the tree, annoyed would be an understatement she was mega-pissed.

"That's it Stormy disconnect it" Darcy commented.

"I'm not disconnecting it, I'm going to obliterate it!" Stormy stated then threw the speaker on the ground, broke a stick off the tree proceeded to smash the speaker into ity bity bits. To Stormy's surprise the music was still playing. "That's impossible I smashed this into mulch, how the hell is the music still playing!" Stormy yelled. Then an annoying voice went over the intercom.

"Anything is possible Stormy" the voice stated, and several speakers materialized playing the music louder.

"IT'S EVERYWHERE!" the Trix screamed.

"What kind of vile monster would come up with the torture, I swear if I ever come across him I will castrate him and then thru his Mr. Happy to rabid Wargs and him along with it!" Stormy yelled, followed by more collective screaming.

To the rear of the Trix at the door inside the compound stood two novice guards, they wore blue togas with steel plate armor underneath, and they both carried metal staffs mainly for self-defense and to keep the prisoners in line when the headbands didn't stop them, the two men had the same build and bowl cut hairstyle but one had brown hair and the other was blonde; their names were Brother Shymel and Brother Kakophonix, they were charged to keep an eye on the Trix wherever they went by Abbot Carloff and by Templar Zantos who were in charge of the monastery, the Trix's chief reformer or attempted reform was a monk by the name of Brother Leonius. "Their they go at it again, they've been shouting day in and day out for the past six months at the rate their going they'll never be reformed and one day a Lord Templar will order us to burn them" Brother Shymel stated.

"Don't be too worried, One day they will see the Light that Lord Elrath offers them, look at the others here, some were the greatest of heretics now they are repentant followers of Elrath's Light and the Light of his Children" Brother Kakophonix responded.

"You can think that, I'll just hold out hope that we get reassigned to watch someone else, I'd rather not stand here on guard duty I'd rather be reciting the prayers to Lord Elrath and singing the Psalms to his praise" Shymel remarked.

"If you feel that way why don't you go ask the Abbot to send someone else in your place and go do that, I'm certain he will allow you to join the other brothers and sisters in worship" Kakophonix remarked, then suddenly the sky darkened, it became blood red as if to signal oncoming battle.

"What's happening" Stormy asked.

"I'm not sure but it looks like good news" Darcy remarked.

"Indeed sisters, I think Nathan has come for us" Icy stated.

Suddenly a portal opened out of it marched warriors clad in purple, black, crimson, and gold, at the front of it was someone the Trix immediately recognized.

"NATHAN!" they all yelled and ran immediately towards him. Erasiel smiled as they came to him.

As this reunion was about to take place Brother Kakophonix was about to call out "Intruders!" when crossbow bolts embedded themselves in him, vertically across the front of his body causing him to fall over dead and his blue robes became purple and his polished steel plate became crimson with blood. Brother Shymel was shocked and rushed towards them without thinking only to received bolts in both eyes causing him to fall down screaming; until a Dark Elf Executioner cleaved off his head with his Draech and flung it over the hill.

"I told you three I would find you, here let me get those headbands off, I know how to, I've got far too much experience with these" Erasiel greeted, he then drew his dagger and cut off each headband which fell to a ground and darkened to black, the Trix's eyes glowed completely red as the magic which had long been kept from them flowed back thru their bodies.

"Thanks that is way better!" Icy stated.

"Tell me about it sis, I'm going to drop a tornado on this place" Stormy remarked.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Stormy, we have other people to free, a monastery to plunder of its treasures and secrets and Lighthaveners to capture/kill, besides I want to- "Erasiel responded before his lips were covered by Darcy's, this surprised him, she took full advantage of his open mouth to slip her tongue in, then she lowered her arms and grabbed Erasiel's tail and rump at the same time. Erasiel reciprocated, grabbing Darcy's rear and picking her up, Stormy and Icy came up and grabbed his shoulders and kissed him on the cheeks. This passionate make out session continued, while Erasiel's warriors entered the monastery ahead of them bar Narquiel who stood next to his father and a hooded woman who stood next Erasiel. Erasiel broke the kiss and put Darcy down, his face covered with lipstick. "Alright, alright I missed you three too, way too much; but before anything else I've got someone to introduce you to" Erasiel commented, then turned to the cloaked women who the Trix had previously ignored and they did looked towards the woman, suddenly she threw aside her cloak revealing herself to them, she was the same height build, and figure as the Trix sisters, her eyes were blue like Stormy and Icy's eyes, she wore g circular glasses whose green frames covered her eyes-sockets entirely though she wore green eyeshadow in similar pattern to the Trix's own, she had raven-black hair which was in two long ponytails, her outfit was the same design as Darcy's witch outfit though it had a cape like Icy's, the cape was black and outfit lime-green with black trims, in the center was a the letter T in capital form, her shoes were heeled boots and she was as beautiful as any of the three sisters and surprise looked a whole lot like them.

"Stormy, Icy, Darcy, I will allow her to introduce herself" Erasiel commented.

"My name is Trixie, I am the best trained Witch and most powerful Sorceress in Ygg-Chall bar the Queens and I am your sister!" Trixie introduced, causing all three Trix sisters jaws to drop.

"I'll explain this later, right now we need to see to liberating the other captives, also I have a bit of a power boost for you three; Trixie demonstrate it" Erasiel stated.

"Trixie!: Gloomix!" Trixie shouted. Trixie's witch form changed, lime green colored plates of magic formed over her body, followed by dark green cloth wrapping around the armor; around her neck a necklace of pure green energy at the center of which was a gemstone materialized and on her arms bracelets of the same green energy, the back of her hands were topped by green gems of the same design and on her hips were similar coils of said energy as well as leg bracelets of the same design, the plates covered most of her body, bar her upper arms and a slight cleavage between both breasts, the rest of the armor covered her body, it had on the breastplate and the cloth the letter T overlapping a green five headed hydra, she wore dark green cape which was in the same style as Icy's, her hair was the same style as before, but her dark green eyeshadow had become a bit more elaborate and the also on her cheeks were miniature green five-headed hydras.

"Behold my dear Trix the power of Gloomix, the next transformation that witches can achieve, melded by Relix energy it is as powerful as a fully realized Charmix fairy; however unlike the Full Charmix it can be given to others; Trixie share your power with your sisters" Erasiel explained, Trixie sent forth a surge of energy into the Trix, they had been magically refreshed recently but this was on a whole new level, the raw power flowing into them, their eyed glowed fully red as their bodies were covered by flashes of Purple, Ice Blue and Burgundy light, suddenly the flashes faded and the three sisters stood there still in their captive robes.

"Wow that is some serious power here!" Stormy exclaimed.

"Now let's get down to business" Erasiel stated.

"Yes, first things we need to find our normal clothes, while these robes are comfortable we've been wearing the same fashion for months now, and we would very much like our old clothes back" Darcy remarked.

"Can do that; now if you would transform" Erasiel stated.

"GLOOMIX!" All three Trix yelled, their bodies surged with energy, like Trixie they were wrapped first by Relix plates of their own colors, then by a cloth of the same color, soon the necklaces materialized, followed by the bracelets, and then the hip wraps, then the leg bracelets, the variation in their outfits was the same as their witch forms but with added skirts to the form, they all had capes now.

"Amazing, this outfit is completely awesome" Stormy remarked.

"Fashionable and functional" Icy commented.

"And there's more, I have a gift for each of you when we get back, a Relix weapon forged for each of you" Erasiel stated.

"Let's get going" Darcy stated.

"Also, I nearly forgot, Trix this is my son Narquiel, Narquiel these are Trix triplets" Erasiel explained. The Trix regarded Narquiel with curiosity, though not as much as they did Trixie.

They soon charged forward ahead into the Monastery; they were soon blocked by a number of Warrior monks and Novices. "Well now is your chance to show them your new powers" Erasiel remarked.

"Indeed: Payback Time!" Darcy commented. "Optical Darkness!" Darcy casted, suddenly the warriors were blinded and screamed as they couldn't see dropping their weapons.

"Glacial Freeze!" Icy casted turning most of the warriors into ice sculptures.

"Now for my time to shine" Stormy remarked "Shattering Storm!" Stormy casted, and surge of wind and water bombarded the Lighthaven Warriors. "Chained Bolts!" Stormy casted, electrifying the Lighthaveners and shattering the sculptures. With this they continued onward into more foes

"Impressive, very so; not one hair out of place and well, not one survivor, here's the memo I didn't give you three, we'll want to take most of them alive, those who join us and renounce their mad gods will be spared, those who don't well they will be thrown into the arenas, By the way I will be showing you at least one performance before we head to Alfea, when we get there I have a mission that I simply can't do without you three" Erasiel commented knocking out a Lighthaven warrior who came charging at him.

"Alright, we'll leave survivors, some survivors" Stormy replied her bloodlust repressed, though as she said this she fried two Lighthaven Initiates with lightning.

"What kind of mission do you need us for anyway" Darcy asked before casting a hypnosis spell to cause two Lighthaven warriors to crash into each other before casting a knockout spell.

"Another rescue mission and this one is important, a new enemy has risen, also any sort of plans for a wedding will have to be put off until after, way after, after our new enemy is defeated" Erasiel commented, the Trix were disappointed at this but they agreed that for the moment any plans to marry Erasiel on their part would have to wait.

"And no, I won't be popping your cherries until we marry, your mother was specific on that part and because of the fact I'm a man of my word I intend to keep that promise" Erasiel added, as Stormy was about to suggest that. "But we can still date- Anyway where are the other captives?" Erasiel asked.

"Not too far from here" Icy commented, freezing more of the guards in ice coffins.

"Good then take me there" Erasiel ordered, then they proceeded to first of these 'cells' well they were more of assigned bedrooms, Erasiel smashed down the door, to the surprise of a familiar set of Twin witches; Ivey and Vera.

"Nathan?!" Vera asked shocked, she and her sister were wearing the same robes that the Trix had been wearing

"No Time for explanations, Icy; give these two their Gloomix" Erasiel explained cutting off the inhibiter headbands.

"GLOOMIX GIFT!" Icy casted then sent a surge of magical energy into both sisters who soon dawned their new Gloomix forms. The colors were those of their normal day to day attire.

Erasiel then smashed down the next door which expose a witch he didn't recognize: she had blonde and black hair in pig tails, her eyes were fuchsia, she was beautiful, her figure was well-endowed, she wore the same robes as everyone else. "Hey nice to meet you, I'm Luke Skywalker and I'm here to rescue you, I'm here with Ben Kenobi" Erasiel remarked.

"Who and who?" the Witch asked.

"Sorry, bad joke, my actual name if you heard about is Erasiel Nathan Darkar, call me Nathan, Erasiel is a name I reserve for long-term acquaintances" Erasiel replied.

"My name is Cersei, I've heard about you from the Trix, and you are just as handsome as they said you were" Cersei replied.

"Come on let's keep moving" Erasiel stated, Zing flew up to him, well walked up next to him being in her human form.

"Wait if you have other people call you Nathan why do you let me, and Livy call you Erasiel" Zing asked.

"Because you are my bounded Pixies, as such I wave that rule, in fact it's more of a suggestion, people have a lot of trouble pronouncing my first name so if they call by my middle name for a 100 years they'll probably have figured out how to pronounce my first name by then" Erasiel stated, while doing so he paralyzed two Lighthaven Templars with a simple spell which showcased his powers to Cersei, if the most elite of Lighthaveners could be defeated easily by him, what chance did anyone else have. Erasiel soon kicked down another door and recognized the two faeries them being Arabel and Kaie; Arabel was a beauty with Blood-red hair and grey eyes, she wore the same robes and headband as every captive so far had been, Kaie was another beauty with grey eyes and short, messy red-brown hair and wore the same attire as Kaie both cut a generously endowed figure and both were shocked to see Erasiel brake down a door and more when he drew a knife and cut of the headbands they were wearing, they once again felt a surge of magic.

"No time to explain your Charmix forms now!" Erasiel stated and both faeries did so. Erasiel continued onward and smashed open another door, to the surprise of another Fairy, she had brown skin, dark blue long hair, and light blue eyes, and as before wore the same garb as the other captives, one slash and the headband was broken. "Eleanor; you're alright, good the Trix told me about you, Charmix form now!" Erasiel explained, the shy girl did as he said and transformed, but she then bombarded him with kisses.

"Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Eleanor thanked.

"Come on, there are others to free!" Erasiel stated, then kicked down the door on the opposite side, to reveal Samantha, a long spikey purple haired witch with Blue eyes and same figure as Eleanor and the Trix, also the same robes which I will stop mentioning at this point as it is getting redundant; she also kissed him after he removed that headband, then Vera gave Gloomix; Erasiel then smashed down another door to reveal someone who Erasiel had been looking for as much as the Trix: Shilly.

"NATHAN!" Shilly stated and Erasiel quickly removed the headband before she immediately made out with him.

"Shilly; I've missed you!" Erasiel remarked.

"Hey, can we please keep going!" Stormy stated.

"Right, Gloomix for Shilly Stormy" Erasiel instructed and Stormy did so after sighing, they continued forward, breaking more doors, freeing more prisoners, incapacitating or killing Lighthaven guards on the way. Eventually they came to a Grand Courtyard where a number of Lighthaven warriors and monks were shackled.

"My Lord-Lord we-we have taken Light-things captive yes-yes, per your orders, kill-killed the ones who fight-fight back, the place is yours-yours yes-yes" Lord Risquitte explained.

"Good what news from the others" Erasiel stated and Yrr'beth approached him.

"I have scoured their library for anything of value and note, I found what you were looking for above everything else" Yrr'beth explained handing him a holo sphere which when he activated it, projected many worlds and marks for monasteries on each world.

"Excellent, a map of all the Lighthaven Monasteries within free space: exactly what I needed" Erasiel stated then wrapped his arms around her and kissed Yrr'beth, the Dark Elf's lips were soft, his hands rested on her butt jiggling the cheeks with his hands, she locked her tongue with him, then they passionately made out. Erasiel broke the kiss and turned to the Trix who had their jaws dropped. "What I can't kiss one of my wives, we've won the day, now that I've had my love we are going now" Erasiel noted.

Shortly… the Monastery had been evacuated of all freed captives, enemy prisoners and warriors, Erasiel stood with Zing, Trixie, Yrr'beth, Narquiel, Shadya, and the Trix as he stared at the Monastery. "Now to make sure that we leave no evidence" Erasiel explained. "Firestorm!" Erasiel casted, and barrage of flames unloaded onto the monastery, which was followed up by everyone else casting spells, Zing summoned a storm of Locusts, while the Trix unleashed tirades of magic, as the three Dark Elves unleashed storms of Fire, Shadows, and dark energy. Soon Lightrock Monastery was rubble and after that Erasiel casted a portal that deposed of said rubble. "Prime Real Estate this place, a nice spot overlooking Lake Roccaluchee, I think I'll build a castle here" Erasiel remarked.

"You are right, this is a nice place for a castle or any abode" Icy replied.

"Anyway, time is a wasting, lets head back to Ygg-Chall" Erasiel stated then he took off into followed by everyone else.

Ygg-Chall: An hour later….

Erasiel had dawned the attire he wore while wandering the Gloomy Wood; The Trix sat on thrones beside him, they were overlooking the Grand Arena of Zoltar inside a box reserved for the Emperor of Ygg-Chall. "This is a sight to behold" Darcy remarked.

"Where's the blood and guts, you said there would be people fighting to the death" Stormy asked annoyed.

"The games haven't started yet Stormy" Erasiel explained, the Trix now had dressed in the attire of the Dark Elven maidens of Ygg-Chall, their day cloths were in their rooms for the time being.

"So, Nathan, can we address the Elephant in the room" Darcy asked as one of the Dark Elf maiden servants handed her a diet Coke which she soon took a drink from, there were other servants who were fanning them and another with dark black hair and who wore only a transparent wrap around her waist was currently administering a blowjob and paizuri to Erasiel, something which the Trix generally regarded with annoyance.

"What you mean Horace, he's a statue of pure mithril, not much to worry about" Erasiel remarked running his hand thru the servant's hair, the box indeed had a statue near the side shelves where Erasiel kept reading material for when he was waiting for the games.

"Not that Elephant, I mean Trixie: how exactly are we siblings and why did you keep her a secret from us?" Darcy asked.

"For your safety, you mother asked me not just to keep your safe and to train you when you were old enough but also gave me Trixie as a ward, Yrr'beth carried for her as her god-mother and I made sure she was instructed in the magic of the Dark Elves, Trixie possesses the ability of the Oblivion Fire, it allows her to summon dark flames from the Oblivion Dimension as well an number other things, she also is skilled in Dark Magic" Erasiel explained.

"Safety? Safety from what?" Icy asked.

"There are people who would see you and your siblings and your mother dead Icy, they are numerous, powerful and influential, the only way to keep you and your sisters safe was to separate you at birth, your father betrayed your mother and before that she was betrayed by her brother for marrying him, your uncle killed your grandparents and branded her and any offspring of hers as traitors to the realm" Erasiel explained.

"What Realm?" Icy asked.

"You know its name and it is one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Magic Dimension; the story of your past is one that has several parts that I will reveal to you three in time, know this though, you are marked for death by many people they don't know of your existence but it they did you would be at greater risk" Erasiel explained.

"I see, secrets within secrets; well if keeping us in the dark is your way of protecting us I guess you can do that, I don't like being kept in the dark but if you are going to tell us more in time well alright" Icy stated.

"Another thing worth mentioning is that the other reason I haven't told you the exact things is because if I did you might feel like it is a good idea to rush into a battle you can't win before being strong enough to face it; Your uncle is extremely powerful, and he has an entire nation at his back, plus his Daughter is an extremely powerful witch and warrior, you will know more in time" Erasiel stated.

Soon a loud horn blew, and the crowd cheered, the gates on either side of the Arena opened and out marched Lighthaven prisoners clad in scant garb and wielding clubs and staves, their necks had a color wrapped around them, on the other side of the arena a roar was heard and out of the gate marched a 10-headed hydra with its handlers marching beside it.

"Behold the first match of the day, some freshly captured Lighthaveners against our arena favorite Harkyross the Blooded one" the Announcer shouted, and the cheer went up from the crowd, the gates shut and the collars restraining the Lighthaveners came off, they roared out and charged the Hydra which roared in challenge and received their charge eagerly, the Lighthaveners attempted to bash at the creature but to no effect.

"An interesting fact about this arena Stormy, the gladiators are protected from permanently dying by specialized energy fields that suppress the weapons to hurt but not kill, granted they will wound and cause bleeding, but nothing to severe, no the dying in this arena is done by the condemned criminals and battle captives" Erasiel explained, the Hydra's heads grabbed three men and quartered them, before using the others to breath poisonous acid onto the remaining Lighthaveners, they screamed in agony as their flesh was torn aside and blood poured from their eye sockets as their eyes dissolved.

"WOW! TEAR THEM TO SHREDS HARKYROSS!" Stormy cheered over the crowd before the crowd started shouting the Hydra's name, soon the rest of the Lighthaven trash was dead, and the Hydra finished exited as trained via the door it came in by.

"He is a crowd favorite and one of mine actually" Erasiel stated, as the Elven servant removed his clothing and climbed on him to mount him, while two more servants similarly dressed licked at his balls.

"Mistress Darcy, can I provide a service of the flesh for you" A Dark Elf Servant asked, she had purple hair and wore only a transparent long wrap over her lower body, it left her vagina and rear bare.

"No thanks, I'm not that kind of woman, besides shouldn't you be tending to your master Erasiel" Darcy remarked rejecting the advance of the servant.

"Personally, I can't believe how you can pass all this off as normal" Icy exclaimed.

"In Ygg-Chall I rule, these servants of mine serve me every need willingly, besides this is a bit a lesson for future reference on your part" Erasiel stated.

Suddenly the crowd cheered as five Skaven clad in armor emerged from the same gate the Hydra had entered from, on the other side some condemned Dark Elf criminals ran out clad in rags and armed with shives and clubs. "The Boulder Brothers are here and the arena's about to get bloodier then before, on the other side more of The Condemned fight again for their chance at freedom; they will have to fight hard for this one, and even then they have more fights ahead of them if they live" the Announcer explained, the criminals charged at the Ratmen who laughed at their opponents, the tide of 50 criminals broke on their armored line, as they were easily cleaved by the Falchions of the Skaven warriors, or sliced by the tail blades or impaled on the spikes of their shields or ripped apart by the jaws of the Ratmen.

"YES! MORE! MORE BLOOD! Show these trash some justice!" Stormy cheered.

"Your enthusiastic for more of this blood, want some other joy?" The Dark Elf Servant who had been by Darcy earlier asked Stormy.

"I'll Pass I'm spoken for besides I don't do girls and what is your name" Stormy ordered and asked.

"Cyantai Mistress Stormy" the Elf replied.

"Well Cyantai; get me a Pepsi, also please put some real clothes on, if you are going to serve me I don't want to see your privates" Stormy instructed, the Elf left.

In the Arena bellow the Condemned were now Rat food and the Bolder Brothers stood victorious; feasting on the fresh flesh, before exiting, on either side of the arena condemned captives and Lighthaven captives came out, and from the main door marched the Executioners. "Execution time; off with their heads" The Announcer shouted, and the Dark Elven Executioners marched up, the condemned captives numbered a hundred while the Executioners two dozen; soon a brutal massacre followed, and heads went flying, the Executioners had refined the art of beheading to a graceful but brutal dance, their two-handed swords and axes sent heads flying, some landing in the audience.

"Yes, this is so awesome!" Stormy yelled. An Executioner removed the head of one of the condemned and it went flying. "Cool another head off, fly ball!" Stormy shouted and caught the head and held it up to the audience.

"You know this is getting a bit redundant, also Nathan if you are going to well, do it with other women right here in the same room I'm in, then I am out of here" Icy stated.

"Me too" Darcy remarked and left with her sister.

"And you Stormy" Erasiel asked.

"Don't care, I'm only interested in seeing the heads fly; if you want to bang other chicks while watching the blood bath, be my guest it's your place; Me I'll just watch the heads fly" Stormy remarked then smirked. "Trixie what's your opinion on this" Stormy asked.

"Oh Mine, this is perfectly normal, I never did any of this myself, I'm saving myself for that special someone" Trixie remarked looking at Erasiel with a wink.

"You mean Nathan" Stormy asked.

"Yep, Erasiel; he allows me to call me that because everyone else calls him that around here apart from the servants who call him Master Darkar or just master, and the subjects who call him his majesty, I'm betrothed to him and as soon as my 18th birthday rolls around I'm going to marry him" Trixie explained.

"When is that?" Stormy asked.

"December 28th" Trixie replied, she sat down next to her sister.

"So, I'm glad I'm not the youngest anymore" Stormy stated to Trixie, as Cyantai returned dressed in a more conservative gown and handed Stormy her Pepsi. "Bring me some breadsticks and a lot of breadsticks and cheese, and chocolate muffins; and get me a pair of those opera glasses so I can see the bloodbath some more" Stormy ordered.

"Yes, Mistress Stormy, is there anything else I can get you" Cyantai asked.

"Yes, you can get whatever my sister wants; also, one more thing just call me Stormy and get me two of those fan girls to fan me and make sure they have burgundy fans like my dress" Stormy instructed.

"Mistress Trixie what can I get you?" Cyantai asked.

"Some Silven Mist soda would be nice, also get me some poppy-seed muffins and some peanut butter cookies; and on top of that a pair of dancing girls to entertain me the blood bath down in the arena bores me and a pair for fan girls as well to fan me, also I would like a foot massage" Trixie stated.

"Yes, Mistress thy will be done" Cyantai stated.

The show continued for three more hours and at its conclusion Erasiel and Trix went to a guest hall where the freed captives were staying. "Time to get the rest of you home to Cloud Tower and Alfea" Erasiel stated to the freed captives: the faeries: Arabel, Kaie, and Eleanor, and the Witches: Shilly, Vera, Ivey, and Cersei.


	29. Arc 2 Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Rescue Mission

Alfea; 2 hours later at sunset…. Erasiel entered the medical hall alongside the now four Trix sisters, the rooms were shut bar one, in which the Winx waited patiently; Erasiel had sent Shilly and the other Witches back to Cloud Tower to tell Nimeria to put together an Elite team of Witches for the oncoming rescue mission. Erasiel entered the room to find Ayesha in a bed she was wearing a different outfit she had traded her hiking gear and cloak for a blue and pink hospital gown, she was still passed out. "I'm back, and I've brought friends" Erasiel stated, the other Winx were waiting on Ayesha to recover and had been doing a variety of things while waiting, Bloom was playing a game of Warhammer Fantasy battle with Flora and losing to her, Stella was busy reading magazines, Tecna was playing games on her phone, Diaspro was busy reading a novel, Musa was of course listen to her Music full blast and Francis was well at Ayesha's bedside.

"Nathan?!" Flora exclaimed, she was wearing a new outfit: a lime green, off-the-shoulder top trimmed with blue. On the top there is a violet flower which extends into three strands of fabric and connects to the back of the shirt. Her pants are blue, same as the trimmings on the shirt, with a lime green flower on it. She wears pink and blue/green striped sandals. She turned to Trix in their civilian threads and to an unrecognized woman with Black hair in ponytails, blue-green eyes, glasses and who wore a lime green skirt, a lime green sleeveless blouse, lime green long gloves, green silk stockings, and green high-heeled pumps. "The Trix!" Flora exclaimed.

"Hello Winx" Icy greeted.

"You're back, where were you?" Musa asked, she also wore a new outfit a short-sleeved, pink and red Cheongsam top with an orange turtleneck under it, a pair of denim capris, and white sneakers worn with pink and orange socks.

"Held prisoner in a Lighthaven prison on a hill above Lake Roccaluchee until Erasiel broke us and a bunch of other people out and leveled the place into rubble before sending said rubble into space" Darcy remarked.

"You must tell us more about that" Stella stated.

"You should ask Kaie or Eleanor, they're back along with Arabel, all the captives being held in that prison were freed" Darcy explained.

"And the Lighthaveners?" Musa asked wishing she hadn't.

"Dead, the Dark Elves killed them all" Stormy stated.

"Dark Elves?" Musa asked.

"I used my own troops to pull off that mission, don't worry the Lighthaveners will know nothing of it and if they find out about they will have to explain why one of their fortresses was on Magix a planet outside of their domain" Erasiel stated.

"Well I hope you made their deaths swift" Tecna stated she was wearing a new outfit as well: a purple cropped top with silver and green trim and matching pants. She has a silver knee-length boots with green trimming. On her left arm she wore a fingerless, shoulder-length purple glove with a green stripe.

"Don't worry they really never stood a chance" Stormy remarked.

"Anyway, now that the Trix are freed I need to know how Ayesha is doing" Erasiel stated.

"She's still out, Nurse Ofeila was overwhelmed so I sent for Maedras, he did his magic and healed her more grevious injuries, but he put her under a sleeping spell for the purposes of his work" Gripmaw explained.

"How long did he say it would last for?" Erasiel asked.

"It should be wearing off soon my Lord" Kerborg stated moving his claws for emphasize, after he said this Ayesha started to move and groan.

Ayesha opened her eyes to see Nathan, the two pixies, and two Faceless but a bunch of people she had no idea who they were. "Where am I? What happened?" Ayesha stated.

"You were beaten up rather badly by Abolithon , he threw you out the pit in the center of that room we were fighting in, I dived in after you and was followed by the Pixies, Abolithon recaptured all but these two: Zing and Livy, who have bounded with me; I took you here to Alfea; you're safe; you had some very bad injuries but nothing the nurse and Maedras couldn't patch up" Erasiel explained.

"I see, so you saved my life Nathan, I owe you one, and I owe you dearly" Ayesha remarked siting up. "What happened to my clothes and more importantly who are all these people; I mean I recognize the Pixies and Kerborg and Gripmaw though I can't tell which is which, but who are the others?" Ayesha asked.

"Alright well ladies I think you should introduce yourselves" Erasiel noted.

"I'm Bloom the Fairy of the Dragon Flame and Princess of Domino, this is Stella the Fairy of the Shining Sun and Princess of Solaria, this Flora the Fairy of Nature she's from Lynphea, this is Musa the Fairy of Music and She's from Melody, this is Tecna the Fairy of Technology she's from Zenith, this is Diaspro the Princess of Isis and Fairy of Gemstones she's from Eraklyion, and this is Francis the Fairy of Laughter and Celestial magic, together we are the Winx, or the Winx Club, Nathan's also a member" Bloom explained and introduced, pointing to each of her friends as she introduced them.

"And these four are the Trix; Icy, Darcy and Stormy are triplets, and Trixie is a younger sister" Erasiel explained.

"I'm Icy the Witch of Ice, my sisters Darcy the Witch of Darkness and Stormy Witch of Weather, and our newly met younger sister; though we haven't done a DNA test to verify that is Trixie the Witch of Oblivion Fire, we attend Cloud Tower College" Icy elaborated.

"Alright then since you've given your names I'm Ayesha the Fairy of Waves and Princess of Andros, my sister Layla is going to Cloud Tower and I'm supposed to go to Alfea, we are identical twins so just letting you know that in advance. Any way what am I saying. We have to rescue the Pixies from Abolithon" Ayesha stated.

"We will do that, right now I'm putting together a team for that mission, Ayesha you need rest, tomorrow morning we will have gotten ready and we will carry out the mission. In the meantime, I've got somethings that need to be taken care of, for example returning everyone who I rescued from Lightrock Monastery to their normal lives and letting their families know that they are safe, also I'll need to have scouts check out Shadowhaunt and figure out where Abolithon is holding the Pixies in the stronghold; I've got other things to take care of besides that, but tomorrow we will be able to do this" Erasiel explained.

"Well I guess I could use some time to get ready, I've got to call my sister and let her know I'm alright and I have to get my things, I left them in the overflow, plus I have to deal with registering and finding a dorm, so I guess it can wait, besides Abolithon is probably expecting us to make another attempt" Ayesha stated.

"Exactly, now are you feeling better" Erasiel asked.

"Yep, I feel refreshed and I don't have any pain whatsoever" Ayesha responded.

"Good, Bloom tell Nurse Ofeila that Ayesha's ok now" Erasiel stated.

"I can do that" Bloom noted.

"Good in the meantime, Trix come with me; We've got to show Griffin you three are alright and back, plus we can do that DNA test you insisted on Icy, in fact we can do that now: Maedras!" Erasiel stated, and a Faceless appeared, he was dressed as a doctor in white robes with red crosses instead of the black and purple robes worn by Kerborg and Gripmaw though he still had the purple mask like face and wings typical to the Faceless in general and had no visible legs. "Maedras: I need you to administer a DNA test, just to verify beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trixie and Icy are siblings, same goes for Darcy and Stormy because they are triplets" Erasiel instructed.

"Yes, my Lord, step forward if you will" Maedras stated, Icy and Trixie stepped forward, Maedras pulled out a two syringes and a scanner of some type. "I will need blood from both of you to verify this, hold out your arms" Maedras instructed, Icy and Trixie stepped forward; Maedras injected both needles sucking out blood from both Icy and Trixie, he then inserted both into the Scanner on his wrist after healing both entry wounds with a healing spell. The screen flashed and the words analyzing popped up. Soon it stopped. "Preliminary data has been collected, blood analysis is complete and DNA test states; Match found; exact same blood type, both blood samples verify the same parents; one male Phoenix and one female Whisperian; the genetics match up, you four are indeed direct siblings" Maedras explained.

"So, we are sisters! YES!" Stormy shouted high-fiving Trixie.

"Wait that stated we are Half-Phoenix is that accurate?" Darcy stated.

"One hundred percent, your father was the son of the Three Seers when they were under control of the Ancestral Shades and before you ask no relation to me, your mother is a Whisperian and I won't go into her anytime soon for your safety" Erasiel explained.

"So that explains why we are so powerful" Icy stated.

"That's interesting, so you four are fully sisters?" Bloom asked.

"Yep" Icy stated.

"Wow I guess I'm not the only one who has Family secrets that I don't know about" Bloom stated.

Shortly… Cloud Tower: Headmistress Griffin's office….

In Griffin's office Griffin was going thru paperwork with regards to the new students coming to Cloud Tower when the door opened. "Erasiel Come in" Griffin stated with a smile which was even happier on seeing the Trix. "Icy! Darcy! Stormy! I'm so glad to see you three again, I was so worried, don't worry everything is alright, I kept your grades, so you weren't held back, also your room is perfectly fine, I've been taking care of Knut and Pepe in your absence" Griffin explained.

"I'm glad to hear that Headmistress" Icy thanked.

"I've made sure everything is ready for you, I've even taken the liberty of buying you new things for the year; and I will cover any expenses with regards to anything you need, for the Heroes of Cloud Tower nothing is restricted for you three, also who is this" Griffin responded.

"Trixie Trix and I know my name is a tongue twister" Trixie introduced to Griffin.

"I see, well I haven't seen you since you were an infant, my how you've grown into a beautiful young woman, also I am proud to welcome you to Cloud Tower, your mother made certain to apply scholarships for your education here and you will receive the same benefits as your sisters, I'm glad to see you here, you'll fit right in; your sisters are the best students I've ever had at Cloud Tower, even better than your mother" Griffin stated.

After speaking with Griffin Erasiel and the Trix returned to their dorm, when the Trix entered they were surprised to see on their beds a Falchion and Shield of intricate craftsmanship, each had a corresponding color for each sister.

"These would be the gifts I promised for you, I forged them myself out of Relix, granted Zera helped me in the process, but each of them is worthy weapon, they have no names so feel free to call them what you want to, the shields are an extra layer of defense, all these are unbreakable, other than that I've taken the liberty to clean your room and made your beds" Erasiel explained.

"This is impressive" Icy stated picking up the blade, "I think I will call it Frostbite" Icy stated, "Sisters come up with names for your blades" Icy instructed, Darcy and Stormy nodded.

"I name mine Shade of Darkness" Darcy remarked naming her blade.

"Stormsurge is the name for mine" Stormy stated.

"I already have a sword, Nethercloud, Erasiel gave it to me for my tenth birthday" Trixie commented.

"Excellent Ladies, now I have to see to getting my Faceless in order, I'll gather intelligence on Shadowhaunt's current defenses and then I've got to see to getting a secondary team from Cloud Tower in order" Erasiel remarked.

Erasiel left the room leaving the Trix to their own devices and proceeded to summon Kerborg and Gripmaw who appeared kneeling. "Kerborg, Gripmaw, get in touch with the Faceless patrolling the tunnels around Shadowhaunt that are loyal to my father, have them observe Shadowhaunt and then you two make sure Rindus passage is still hidden, you two know the place, if it is unguarded then we will have a route in that can be used without Abolithon and his goons knowing about it; well one of several but the most practical for a rescue; other than that I want you to try and find where the Pixies are located without being detected" Erasiel ordered. "If you find the Pixies do not attempt a rescue, most likely Abolithon will be near them, if he is a surge from multiple magic users should incapacitate him long enough for an escape to take place, you two don't have that power on your own" Erasiel finished.

"Yes, Milord we will do as you've ordered" Kerborg responded.

"Yes, boss we will do as instructed, what about those garrisons away from Shadowhaunt?" Gripmaw responded.

"Best to keep those warriors where they are now, I can't afford to throw resources away on an unnecessary gamble, also they maintain important positions that will keep Abolithon from expanding outward and on top of that they keep out the nastier creatures that dwell in the caverns away from everything else; that is a danger you two know quite well can't be left unchecked" Erasiel replied, Gripmaw's expression turned grim as did Kerborg's they both knew full well what dwelt in the depths beneath Shadowhaunt and in the guarded chasms: Forgotten beasts, Primordial terrors, and far worse things; far worse things indeed, beyond the nightmares of those who dwelled above ground.

"You two have your orders carry them out to the letter, as soon as you are done, I want you two to split up, Kerborg you will head to Alfea to keep an eye on Bloom just in case she has any of her dreams, Gripmaw you'll head to the Rindus Passage and make sure it is clear of any dangers, just in case the giant cave spiders have moved back in; if they haven't make sure that it stays clear got it, in the morning Kerborg tell the Winx to head out and meet me, the Trix and the other witches in Magix City" Erasiel ordered, the two Faceless left and Erasiel proceeded down the hallway where he soon bumped into Nimeria. "Hey Nim" Erasiel greeted.

"Hey handsome so where you been all day and is it true that the Trix are back" Nimeria asked.

Erasiel then gave an account of all the things that had happened during the day in summery. "So pretty much what this boils down is that a new enemy now threatens Magix I don't know his plans yet, and on top of it all it is personal because he's trapped my father in his own dungeons in his own stronghold and there is no way he can get out of the shackles in the dungeons they were made specifically to hold Phoenixes and as such will hold him, now I've got to devise a rescue mission which if you would be so kind as to collect a small team of about 6 or 7 witches we can pull that off, just make sure they know they'll be working with faeries on this" Erasiel explained.

"I'll see what I can do, I know a number of girls who would follow you to hell and back Nathan I'm sure they'll be more than willing to help us" Nimeria stated.

"Just make sure they're fully ready for some cave exploration, and make sure you get everything ready, we'll be going into well dangerous territory" Erasiel stated, Nimeria planted a kiss on his lips.

"You worry too much, don't worry I'll choose only the best for this mission" Nimeria stated, she smiled for assurance. "So, what do you say you and I spend the evening together" Nimeria asked.

"Not tonight, I've got too much to juggle at the moment and on top of that I'm a bit worn out from all the fighting I've been thru today, what with my attempted rescue of the Pixies and my far more successful rescue of the Trix and the other captives from Lightrock I'm worn out" Erasiel answered and left Nimeria after giving her a good night kiss and returned to the Trix's dorm-room to find Icy, Trixie and Stormy passed out in their night clothes and Darcy having finished dressing into her sleeping attire: Darcy's pajamas consisted off a lilac nightgown with long sleeves which start off puffy at the shoulders, only to go down to her wrists in a different, more vibrant shade. She wore lilac sweats in the same style. "Hi Darcy" Erasiel greeted.

"Hey Nathan, by the way Trixie's taken your bed" Darcy remarked.

"That's alright I'll just sleep somewhere else" Erasiel stated.

"You can sleep with me in my bed" Darcy offered. "Besides it's the least I can do for you after you saved me from that boring and nightmare of a monastery, I love you, and my love has been all the more strengthened by you rescuing me" Darcy explained, Erasiel used his magic to change into his pajamas which consisted of an orange and purple short-sleeved shirt with the image of himself in Phoenix form and orange and purple sweatpants that were tailored with his long feathery tail in mind. Darcy lied down on her bed and Erasiel lied down next to her as she pulled the covers of them, they cuddled before passing out, on the opposite side of the room Knut and Pepe slept in their personal beds, the purple duckling saying Mommy in his sleep and Knut well snored like a freight train, however the Trix sisters slept like rocks, and Erasiel well he slept like an angel in Darcy's warm embrace.

The following morning…. Erasiel had gathered in the meeting room near Cloud Tower's cafeteria as he waited for the Trix to finish dressing he himself wore the same garb he wore the day prior for his journey into the Gloomy Wood, they had dressed for the occasion dawning clothing suitable for cavern exploration and rock-climbing, specifically a reinforced jumpsuit made of the same fiber alloy used for Darcy's Space-Strider suit, only with more reinforcements and powered exoskeleton for the purposes of climbing. "Are you sure these suits are suitable for this?" Stormy asked.

"They should be, they are made out of powerful microfiber; it's been designed to deflect a plasma round with ease, on top of that this plasteel plating should offer a good deal of protection" Darcy remarked.

"Well when Headmistress Griffin said she would provide whatever we need she meant it, this is stuff is top notch and must have cost a fortune" Trixie stated.

"What do you expect when you're one of the most powerful and influential witches in the Magic Dimension" Stormy remarked.

"Enough sisters, we don't need to discuss this; We're ready Nathan" Icy stated.

"Good now we just need to wait on Nimeria, her team should be here any minute now" Erasiel noted, then Nimeria entered the room as if on que, she was accompanied by Pusilitia, Shilly, Endora, Euphorbia, Ververine, Gerbera, as well as Vera and Ivey, they were dressed in clothing suitable for cavern exploration; though the difference between them and Trix was obvious, they didn't have the resources the Trix did thanks to Griffin and himself. "Good now we are here let's head to Magix City to meet up with the others" Erasiel stated, Erasiel then opened a portal to the city and they entered it. They arrived at a park where the Winx were waiting for them: the wore the same outfit with which consisted of a cream khaki, midriff, top and matching cream khaki shorts with pouches, with matching khaki boots; they each wore different accessories, and this set them apart from what would have been a rather uniform look. Stella was the odd one out because of her Rapier Solaria's Light and the fact she wore a purple ribbon on her right arm and a purple headband.

"Good now that we are all here I need you all to listen, follow my lead until we reach Shadowhaunt and then I will give our plan of operation, we will be heading for Ygg-Chall first where we will stock up on supplies and have guides escort us thru the caverns to the city of Igzera, once we are there we will meet up with my scouts and get their report, after that we will head to the outskirts of Shadowhaunt: I will explain the rest of our plan once we are there and after I get the Scouts' reports understand, also while we are in Ygg-Chall do not under any circumstance do anything to annoy the locals, the laws in Ygg-Chall are different then in Magix proper, it is a completely different realm, the locals in Ygg-Chall have different morals and laws then the people in Magix City, so while we are there follow my lead; we will gather supplies for the expedition then meet up with our escort and guides, while we are there DO NOT under any circumstances wander off, the last thing I need is to search the entire city for any of you, another point do not argue with the locals they know the caverns way more than you do" Erasiel explained.

"Understood we get it, don't bug the locals, don't get side-tracked, follow your lead, now can we go shopping at any of these cities" Stella remarked.

"On the way back Stella, not on the way there, also that's another thing, I'll cover any expenses, I have far more money than I know what to do with and on top of that everyone in Ygg-Chall gives me discounts" Erasiel stated, he then opened a portal to Ygg-Chall.

"Ladies first" Erasiel remarked, everyone entered the portal, the portal exited in the city center of Ygg-Chall, a grand bazaar where numerous goods were being sold and the prices went back and forth, the diversity of people at the bazaar was astounding. "Ok we are going to need to buy supplies for the journey, I've made a list, on top of that we will need to hire guides and buy Cold-One Raptors for allowing us to travel quickly, before you ask no there aren't any bikes or cars in Ygg-Chall, the caverns make use of them impractical due to all the stalactites and stalagmites, don't worry though Cold-Ones move relatively fast" Erasiel explained.

They moved about the bazaar buying the supplies, soon they met back together bar one person. "Where is Stella?" Erasiel asked.

"I thought she was with you" Flora asked Musa.

"She was, and I have no idea where she went" Musa remarked.

"I have a good idea of where she's gone; Stormy I'm going to need your assistance with this" Erasiel stated and the witch followed him, shortly they came to Mazaria's Multitude of Styles; a luxurious clothing shop.

Stella was modeling the latest in Dark Elf Fashion, a purple and orange two-piece gown that left her navel bare and a significant amount of cleavage, she also wore gloves of the same fabric and stiletto high-heeled pumps she had a bag in which were a number of other outfits and her rapier was of course at her side. "This is definitely more flexible it allows me some free movement and it is stylish" Stella commented to a number of Dark Elf girls who were gossiping with her when she noticed an irate Erasiel and an annoyed Stormy.

"Stella what did I say about shopping, it can wait until after the mission" Erasiel stated with a very annoyed expression.

"Hey Nathan, what do you think of my new outfit, it is all the rage this season, right girls" Stella stated, and the Dark elf Girls agreed with a number of things.

"Alright Erasiel, restrain yourself, Alright Stella how much is the damage in terms of how much this is going to cost me" Erasiel asked with a relaxed expression as he was restraining himself from wanting to ignite himself in anger.

"Oh that, well I've already paid for everything, it cost 850 for all this, in Solarian money of course, but I got all this on a special, so it cost a lot less then it would've" Stella explained.

"All right, now where did you put your explorer garb?" Erasiel asked.

"Oh that, well it's still in the dressing room" Stella remarked.

"Then go get it and change Stella, you'll complain about your outfit otherwise" Stormy stated.

"I'll get it but I'm not changing back into it, this dress is so fluid, I feel as free as a bird" Stella remarked.

"Alright but if you complain about your shoes hurting you I'm going to say, you choose to wear that outfit" Erasiel remarked. "I swear though, if you wander off again I'll have Stormy zap you with lightning" Erasiel stated.

"Awesome" Stormy remarked imagining Stella running off as she chased her with lightning bolts. Stella shivered at the thought.

"Anyway, no more delays, we have Pixies to save and every moment we delay is a moment where Abolithon could be doing terrible things to them, it's even more urgent because one of those Pixies is my daughter Piff, I won't tolerate any more delays

After that it proved simple to get Stella out of the store, the next step came to hiring guides, which was simpler than getting supplies, their chief guide was an Elf named Lordan who was an expert Cold-One rider, the purchase of Cold-Ones was even easier, while Erasiel purchased the Cold-Ones he sent runners to notify an honor guard for the King of the fastest and most elite Cold-one Knights. During this period Stormy named her Cold-One Pinky, when asked about the name she said "If someone laughs at the name it distracts them long enough for her to eat them, or for me to fry them with Lightning"

The journey through the caves proved simpler, Bloom actually rode alongside Erasiel. "So, Nathan we are travelling how about a travelling song?" Bloom asked.

"Well then Bloom glad you asked well I know my share of them: here's one; 'Roll-roll-roll-roll-roll-rolling down the hole, heave roll! Splash Thump! Down they Go and down they bump! Down the swift dark stream, you go, back to lands you once did know leave the halls and caverns deep! Leave the northern mountains steep, Where the forest wide and dim! Stoops in shadow grey and grim! Float beyond the world of trees! Out into the whispering breeze! Past the rushes, past the reeds! Past the marsh's waving weeds! Through the mist that riseth white! Up from mere and pool at night! Follow, follow stars that leap! Up the heavens cold and steep; Turn when dawn comes over land! Over rapid, Over sand, South away! And South away! Seek the sunlight and the day, Back to pasture, back to mead, Where the kine and oxen feed! Back to gardens on the hills! Where the berry swells and fills! Under sunlight, under day! South away! and South away! Down the swift dark stream, you go! Back to lands you once did know!" Erasiel sung.

"Wow that's a nice song did you make it up yourself?" Musa asked.

"No Musa, it's from the Hobbit" Bloom answered.

"What's that?" Musa asked.

"A book from Earth and one of my favorites" Bloom asked.

"One of mine too" Erasiel remarked.

"I can tell" Bloom replied. "Do you know any other songs?" Bloom asked.

"Well I can certainly sing one I remember fondly: "The World was young the mountains green, no stain yet on the moon was seen; no names were laid on stream or stone when Durin woke and walked alone. He named the nameless hills and dales, he drank from yet untasted wells: He stooped and looked in Mirrormere and saw a crown of Stars appear. As gems upon a silver thread, above the shadow of his head. The world was fair, the mountains tall, in Elder Days, before the fall, of mighty kings in Nagathrond and Gondolin who now beyond the western seas have passed away; the world was fair in Durin's day. A King he was on carven throne, in many pillared halls of stone, with golden roof and silver floor, and Runes of Power upon the door! The Light of Sun! And Star! And Moon! In shining lamps of crystal hewn, undimmed by cloud or shade of night, there shone forever fair and bright. There hammer on the anvil smote, there chisel clove and graver wrought, there forged was blade and bound was hit, the miner delved, and mason built. There beryl, pearl and opal pale and metal were wrought like fish's mail! Buckler and Corselet! Axe and Sword! And Shining Spears were laid in horde! Unwearied then were Durin's Folk! Beneath the Mountains music woke! The harpers harped, and minstrels sang and at the gates the trumpets rang. The world is grey, the mountains old, the forge's fire is ashen cold, no harp is wrung no hammer falls, the darkness dwells in Durin's Halls, a shadow lies upon his tomb. In Moria! In Khazad-Dum! But still the sunken stars appear in dark and windless Mirrormere! There lies his crown in water deep till Durin wakes again from sleep. Deathless is he!" Erasiel responded in song.

"That is from the Lord of Rings, before you ask Stella it's the sequel to the Hobbit "Bloom responded.

"What are these stories about?" Flora asked.

"Well I would have you read them yourself Flora they are on my shelf in our room, however I can sum them up: the Hobbit covers the story of a Hobbit or a Halfling as they are also known as, who joins a company of Dwarves who are seeking to take back their home Erebor, also called the Lonely Mountain, from a great and terrifying Dragon named Smaug the terrible, along the way he finds a ring, but this is magic ring" Bloom explained.

"Oh, is it like my ring?" Stella asked.

"No, the ring is an evil ring, it was forged by the Dark Lord Sauron, the Lord of the Rings, who is the main villain of the Lord of the Rings: in fact, the best way for me to sum up the Lord of the Rings is with a poem: Three rings for the Elven Kings, Immortal and wise, fairest of all beings under the sky. Seven for the Dwarf Lords great miners and craftsmen in their Mountain halls of Stone. Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, but who above all else desire power. One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne in the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to Bring them all and in the Darkness bind them in the Land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie. Ash-Nazg-Durbatuluk! Ash-Nazg Gimbatul! Ash-Nazg Thrakatuluk! Ag-Burz-em-Ishi Krimbatul! Ishi Amul Uzg-ob Mordor, Amul Ulu Burgul-kaat!" Bloom responded to Stella.

"Well Bloom, I'd appreciate if you didn't swear at the end" Stella responded.

"That was Black Speech Stella, it wasn't swearing Bloom was simply giving the original translation to what was written on the Ring when it was forged, also it was unique in that regard as it resembled a simple gold ring, until you put in a fire and that exposes the writing on the ring; it was written in Quenya an Elvish script but the language was that of Mordor; the Black Speech; when translated into English it is what Bloom stated before saying it in Black Speech" Erasiel explained.

"Well it all sounds like an interesting story, I'll have to read it sometime Bloom" Flora stated.

"I hope you do, it's a good read, but read the Hobbit first, it is the first book" Erasiel stated.

They continued along the caverns, passing thru many towns and cities of Ygg-Chall's territory, until they arrived at Igzera, the Dark Elf guides from Ygg-Chall left them to return home, and Erasiel hired other guides for traveling thru the caverns near to Shadowhaunt. Then from there they marched for another 30 miles avoiding going off the established paths, eventually to arrive at Familiar Ground which was actually the name of the spot as Erasiel explained, he had marked this place for the main junction that lead to Shadowhaunt when he was still a child and liked to wander off into the caverns near his home, the marker for said place was a large charred broken stalagmite with numerous glyphs in the language of the Phoenix etched in alongside hieroglyphs which depicted various things and people doing various things, the stone itself was smooth and long as two regular beds it was also good for sitting on.

"This is what I named as Irietta's stone: She and I played a lot in the caves when I was a kid and we carved this stalagmite for the purposes of finding our way home, but also we used it to record the many adventures we had over the years; when I still lived at home and whenever I returned home" Erasiel stated.

"It's amazing, how did you manage all this detail?" Bloom asked.

"Using magma pens, they are the best writing utensil for writing or drawing on cavern walls and objects; the illustrations are mostly my sister's, in fact Irietta did most of this to be honest, which is why we called it Irietta's stone: also, because she came up with the idea in the first place" Erasiel explained.

"Tell us more about your sister" Shilly stated.

"Not yet, I need to focus, now one of these paths leads to the entrance we'll be taking; the name of the place is the Rindus passage; my father made a number of secret entrances into Shadowhaunt, they are extremely hard for enemies to find and even if they did they would have to be a Darkar to open them: so be quiet and let me think, it's been a while since I last explored the tunnels near my home about five years in fact, so I need to remember, Gripmaw's got a better memory for these things but I sent him on ahead to evict any squatters from the passage" Erasiel explained, then he sat on a boulder near Irietta's stone, then thought, Vera sat next to him and held his hand while Zing and Livy hovered over his shoulders on which Kerborg had perched on the left shoulder, the other girls did a mixture of sitting down, passing and in Stormy's case grumbling under her breath, while Darcy read a book, Musa pulled out her music and played that.

Erasiel reconciled the various memories of the paths, his wanderings in the caves, his battles we some of the more expeditious threats in the caverns, as well as amorous adventures he had out here with numerous women and girls from Shadowhaunt, the most enjoyable being with Rise; his first brood mate and first partner, and with Irietta, how she moaned and giggled as he pounded her- Erasiel put those thoughts out of his mind, he was here on a mission, thinking about sex and passion would not help him figure out the pathways. "As if I can supplant those desires" Erasiel thought to himself and smirked, then he eliminated each cavern entrance, first the ones that headed in the opposite direction from where they would be heading, then eliminating the one with Darkar Crest fused into the cavern stone above which lead to Shadowhaunt's front gates, then he eliminated the path to Artas; one of the main outposts if you could call a good sized town and stronghold an outpost, then he eliminated the one he heard the flow of water coming from, then he listened, and soon it was narrowed down to two entrances, this would be the challenge. After a bit more thinking he decided to do something interesting. "Kerborg" Erasiel stated telepathically and said Faceless moved to attention. "I need your opinion, I've narrowed it down to one of those two passageways; one is the path to Rindus, the other leads to Shagra's lair, now you have keener ears then me, listen at both doors and see if you can hear that old Hydra snoring" Erasiel ordered.

At this Kerborg flew off to the two passageways and perched atop each one, the left passage he heard snoring, multiple snoring heads. He then whispered into Erasiel's ear. "Alright I've figured it out, listen up" Erasiel stated, at this everyone focused. "I've done some thinking and had it figured down to those two passages, after some intel gathering from Kerborg, the right passage is the one we need to take, and right as in on the right; the left passage leads to the lair of an old Hydra named Shagra a pet of my father's set to guard another secret entrance; follow me" Erasiel stated, everyone followed Erasiel; Zing and Livy hovered close to him everyone else followed behind, they had only been walking for ten minutes as the cavern opened to another cavern in which a towering armor clad warrior wearing full plate and cowel and wielding a star-bladed axe which was stained with yellow blood, he had only three toes on each foot, four fingers on each hand, several horns jutting from his head and he had bright purple eyes. Beside the warrior lay the corpses of giant cave spiders, which lay limp in death and covered in yellow blood.

"Boss just like you thought the Cave Spiders moved back in, I've seen to evicting them, well those who ran off at any rate" Gripmaw stated.

"Excellent job Gripmaw, anyone signs that anyone else was here?" Erasiel asked.

"No boss, these spiders have been here for a while now, about a year, I had to cleave thru a lot of webs, kill a whole bunch of the nasty monsters and smash their eggs on top of all that; trust me no one has come here that isn't already a skeleton" Gripmaw noted, everyone noted the mummified skeletons in cob webs, none of them were human, nor of any other civilized species, they were all of the fauna native to the caverns.

"Good; Gripmaw I need you stand watch outside of Shadowhaunt in case something goes wrong, I need you to create a diversion, if trouble happens loose the emergency Hydras and golems that will slow down any pursuers, which reminds me: I'm going to need a few helping hands for Gripmaw, four to be exact to help with a diversion, oh and don't worry those Hydra's are tamed to listen to Darkar family and house subjects, Gripmaw will keep you safe" Erasiel explained, the show of hands for this job was easy enough: though Erasiel refused Stella's offer in this department mainly for her safety, as for the actual volunteers Ivey wanted to be with this team mainly to see if Hydra venom was as toxic it was renowned for being; Euphorbia joined in for just causing general mayhem, Trixie for leadership, and Endora because a cool head was required for this job. "Alright now that this is cleared up let's move out" Erasiel stated then turned towards a cavern wall, muttered something in his own language, and the wall opened up, behind said wall was large entry way with statues of Darkar warriors and of the family standing on each side along columns in a spiral staircase style, but in the center was a grand gate with purple etchings into it. "Now for the main gate, and yes there are two layers of security, actually three, but this is the main one, I now have to the say words of opening: Adra Etios Rendi Vadoth Darkar Engarnak!" Erasiel explained and did, the gates folded back onto each other layer by layer. "Now to make sure we aren't followed" Erasiel stated, then pressed a concealed button which shut the outer door leaving a normal wall. "Follow me" Erasiel stated.

"So, what is the third layer of security?" Icy asked inquisitively.

"See those statues over there; the statues aren't just for show, they are actually stone guardians, if someone who wasn't a Darkar uttered the words of opening those statues would spring to life and kill any intruders; also, they are indestructible, they were made by Shanteri craftwork which makes them impossible to destroy with anything short of Relix weaponry, and even if you did use Relix weaponry they would simply reassemble themselves" Erasiel explained.

"Eek" Stella stated creeped out by the statues and she clung to Erasiel like a frightened child.

"Don't worry they won't hurt you Stella, trust me those statues have hardly ever been used for their main purpose, few have actually found this entrance and on top of that fewer can solve the puzzle of the words of opening, and those that do well they aren't a Darkar and thus the Statues dealt with them, besides Shadowhaunt hasn't been attacked by an extremely serious threat since the Phoenix Wars" Erasiel stated. They continued taking turns down the halls, then they came to an elevator.

"This isn't an ordinary elevator it is actually an elaborate train system, it can take us to any level in Shadowhaunt; now the important part is finding where Abolithon is holding the Pixies" Erasiel noted, then turned to a nearby wall to the confusion of all bar Ayesha because she knew what he was doing; the wall revealed a room with a number of computers and a large screen. "Tecna if you would I'll need your help" Erasiel stated.

"For a chance to use Phoenix technology; you know I'm interested and I'll help" Tecna replied; they then proceeded to search the many cameras for where the Pixies were being held. Shortly after they found them: in a cage similar to one they had been held in on the Flying Fortress; suddenly Erasiel then checked other cameras looking for Abolithon, no sign of him near the Pixies.

"Well we know where we need to go, right into the Throne Room right into the Dragon's lair; or in this case the Phoenix's lair, or you get the point: into the Elevator" Erasiel ordered and everyone scrambled into the Elevator in an orderly fashion, Erasiel then entered a code and stated "Darkar Eninatra" this was followed by Elevator moving a various direction until arrived at an empty room bar a portrait of Argulus and Avarra holding an infant in each hand. "Birthday photos: trust me this is one of the few times you can get my parents to agree on something" Erasiel remarked.

"Which one is you they are both blonde?" Stella asked.

"Easy the one with brown eyes; I'm a natural blonde, but I show it because my Twin Sister Eris is one too and she annoys me to no end" Erasiel remarked he then moved the portrait to reveal button which he pressed, they exited to one side of the throne, no Abolithon, no guards. Erasiel dashed across the throne followed by the Winx in a rush, they came to the cell which Erasiel immediately smashed open with a swift spell. "Come on! Let's amscray!" Erasiel noted, when he noticed something unusual happen, the Pixies gravitated towards the Winx and surge of powerful magic was sensed by Erasiel, he noted each Pixie was locking in on one of the Winx; suddenly it stopped.

"What happened?" Bloom asked.

"We're bounded" said a Pinkette Pixie in a pink dress with a Key shaped staff.

"That great, we can introduce each other later lets go before Abolithon- "Erasiel stated and a red flash occurred. "Too Late! Winx Charmix! Witches Gloomix!" Erasiel ordered and both parties transformed.

"Magic Winx Charmix!" The Winx shouted and they began to transform.

(It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the power of Charmix and you will shine Bright Spread you're wings and fly Light it up the Sky its easy if you try It's the power of Charmix. It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky!) "Bloom fairy of the Dragon Flame" Bloom shouted as she transformed.

(If you want to go far, never give up on your dreams! Because you know you're wonderful just the way you are! Deep inside your heart there is the power of a Winx just close your eyes and let it shine!) "Flora Fairy of Nature" Flora shouted as she transformed.

(It's the power of Charmix your magical light the power of Charmix and you'll shine bright, spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's easy if you try!) "Stella fairy of the Shining sun!" Stella shouted.

(Every day on the edge you know what you've got to do, just give your best and you will see! You'll never be unknown! We are all for one! Burning Brighter than the Sun! Just Close your Eyes and we will shine!) "Musa Fairy of Music!" Musa shouted as she transformed.

(It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's easy if you try! It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! Charmix!) "Tecna Fairy of Technology!" Tecna shouted as she transformed.

(It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's the power of Charmix!) "Diaspro Princess! Fairy of Gemstones!" Diaspro yelled as she transformed.

(This is what you are and now you're a powerful Fairy! Irresistible! You will be the Star! Come Fly with the Winx! It's the Power of Charmix your magical light the Power of Charmix and you'll shine bright! Spread your wings and fly! Light it up the sky! It's the power of Charmix!) "Francis Fairy of Laughter" Francis yelled as she transformed, Francis's Charmix consisted of a red sparkling bikini turtleneck top with a white strip down the front with black buttons and sparkling red bikini shorts. She wore red ankle boots with over-the-knee blue socks. She also wore white cuff bracelets with black buttons and a red and blue two-sided joker hat with black and red bells on the tips. Coming from her top she had a dark red two-pointed cape. Her wings curled at the tips and were light blue with cyan tips.

"Erasiel! Phoenix of order! Regal Armor of Darkar!" Erasiel yelled transforming and dawning a regal armor of interlocking plates made of Relix which covered every part of his body bar his head and were colored Orange and Purple, on the cuirass worn over the plates was the crest of house Darkar, on his head was his helmet basinet helmet with a face mask in the shape of a Phoenix's face, with two purple orbs resembling eyes, this mask was pulled down over his face. ("it's the power of Charmix!")

Erasiel tossed his staff to Bloom who caught and drew his swords quickly charging Abolithon and forcing him counter before he could speak. "Now!" Erasiel yelled, and everyone let out a barrage of Magic not even verbalizing their spells; the raw magic attacks from each fairy and witch bombarded Abolithon in cascade of Energy, in this blast Erasiel flew followed by the Pixies, Kerborg, the Witches and the Winx. "Gripmaw the distraction! NOW!" Erasiel yelled telepathically as the flew thru the entrance they came in by and dived into the elevator shutting it off once everyone was in, Erasiel then pounded a button that would take the Elevator to one of the Postern towers; which would allow for a rapid escape.

"Sure, thing boss!" Gripmaw shouted back.

Once they had calmed down Erasiel stated "Alright now we are heading to one of the postern towers"

"Alright why aren't heading back the way we came? Also, is Abolithon down?" Icy asked urgently.

"1. Never leave by the same route you come in by when you are doing an escape from an enemy fortress. 2. I doubt it, we only stunned him at worst, at best he'll be out of things for about 10 minutes" Erasiel stated.

"Now what do we do?" Flora asked.

"We head to the Postern tower, the top of it, then we fly off and split up into three groups one following Kerborg, the second following Gripmaw and the last me: no time to discuss who gets in who doesn't once we've gotten out it will be nonstop running until we've ditched them, don't worry the Faceless and I know these caves extensively" Erasiel explained.

They soon arrived atop the tower in which two armored and armed warriors were ready to fight accompanied by a number of constructs and large group of Tar Monsters. "Here's my identification papers: Purple Sun of Xereus!" Erasiel yelled, then a large purple sun blazed out of his hands and tore through the group, Erasiel and company flew a scrambled flight path around and forward soring past the walls where a large number of Hydras fought with Tar Monsters; they were joined by Gripmaw and his diversionary team. Soon they flew to edge of the caverns were numerous paths edged. The groups split off: Erasiel was followed by Stella, Musa, Stormy, Vera, Zing, Livy, Ivey, Shilly, Pusilitia and Nimeria as well as two pixies who Erasiel hadn't yet caught the names of, they dashed into a cavern entrance while the other groups followed suit down different passages, they ran, ran for minutes until they came to a dead end, cavern door which led to a 10-foot drop into a rushing underwater river.

"Crap a dead end!" Stormy yelled.

"What happened to you knowing the tunnels?" Musa asked Erasiel.

"I know all the tunnels save this passage; apparently, my father must have dug it for water access" Erasiel remarked, the howls of Tar Monsters and Hell Mastiffs heard in the distance. "The must have overpowered the Hydras, that or they ignored them; Only one way out now: Into the Drink!" Erasiel yelled then dragged Stella in, Everyone else leapt in behind them, as they were sucked into the roaring rapids, as the howls of the monsters grew distant, they were far down river when the pursuers caught up to where they had been, and they were not in a mood to go swimming after them nor were they suited for said task.

The river roared and shook as Erasiel held onto Stella tightly, suddenly Stella hit her head on a rock rendering her unconscious, Erasiel held her against his chest and swam, while trying his hardest to keep Stella above water so she didn't drown, everyone else was having an easier time staying afloat but they could only follow the current; downriver and deeper into the underground lands.


	30. Arc 2 Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Princess Amentia of Downland

The crashing of the water calmed and tossed Erasiel and his party onto the shore, Stella was out cold; everyone else was exhausted and drenched. Erasiel simply hauled Stella out of the water stoically over his shoulder, followed by the Pixies who were the least exhausted of them all. "Cold, too cold" Shilly chattered, she was soaking wet and the water had been cold.

"Here gather around" Erasiel instructed and they gathered around him, Erasiel pulled out wood from his pack and put it into a stone circle, before igniting it with a minor fireball. "I have no knowledge of where we are, for now we are tired, soaked, shaken, and in some cases hurt badly, the only for it is stop and collect ourselves, the fire will keep us warm, we have camping supplies and I packed a few emergency tents in my bag; bottomless well spells, so they won't run out of space" Erasiel noted, then he studied Stella, the rock had torn a gash in her head, nothing life-threatening but still a serious injury, also he felt her arms and noticed she had broken both legs. "Crap, you've been hurt bad Stella" Erasiel stated to a still unconscious Stella before whispering in her left ear "Ekvai nagvir" casting a sleeping spell on her. "She will be out for a while, I put her in a sleeping spell to deafen her pain also to keep her from waking don't want her to yell and attract unwanted attention, also I need to do something else" Erasiel stated, then muttered a charm under his breath, it repaired Stella's outfit and removed any water in it afterwards he bandaged the gash.

"Now what do we do?" Vera asked.

"Simple we rest" Musa replied.

"Not before I look you all over for injuries" Erasiel noted.

"What about you?" Nimeria asked.

"And more importantly what about our clothes?!" Pusilitia shouted angry.

"Alright, I can fix those, as for me well I've survived worse than a raging river, plus the Relix armor really takes a lot out of the hits" Erasiel responded, he then used his spells to mend their tattered clothes, restoring them to pristine condition as well as drying them. "Now for us to get some sleep, no time to set up a tent, everyone take a sleeping bag" Erasiel instructed summoning enough for everyone. "Now put them in a circle around each other to conserve body heat" Erasiel instructed, Everyone tired did so with their last ounce of energy, only after having wrapped themselves in did the pass out, Erasiel was awake still. Erasiel picked up Stella and laid down, unzipping a sleeping bag and pulling her on top of him, to keep her warm. "Good night sweet Princess" Erasiel remarked kissing Stella on the forehead before wrapping his arms around her in a loving embrace before falling asleep.

The following morning was met by a rude awakening, a rude kick was given to Erasiel's sleeping bag alongside everyone else's, around them stood imposing warriors; with pale yellow skin they were clad in armored coats of scales and carried large bardiches, their hands only had three digits: a thumb, pointer finger and a warped palm that was a fusion of the other three fingers. "What the Hell!" Erasiel remarked, having been thrown out of his sleeping bag but still holding an unconscious Stella.

"You are trespassers, you trespassed on the Land of the Kingdom of Downland" one of the warriors stated.

"Great Trogs; I'll warn you, don't harm my friends or me, otherwise you've declared war on the Empire of Ygg-Chall, I am Lord Erasiel Nathan Darkar! Emperor of Ygg-Chall!" Erasiel yelled at the warriors this caused them to take aback face. "Now you may be wondering what in the name of Asha we are doing here on this shore of a river, inside the borders of your Kingdom, first off, we were washed ashore after we were forced into said river running from an Army of Tar Monsters and Hell Mastiffs, secondly, we bare you no ill will, third I demand to see your leader and negotiate with your most available representative and if I have to I brought diplomatic gifts" Erasiel explained the warriors stood at attention talked in their own language before releasing the others.

"Pack up your camp, we will take you Downland City, Princess Amentia will speak with you but be warned, she has a severe temper and it would be unwise to come unready" Erasiel noted.

"Alright, now we will do that" Erasiel instructed, he then grabbed Stella's back and pulled out the luxury clothes she had bought in Ygg-Chall before handing them to other girls. "Put these on, we'll need to make a proper first impression" Erasiel instructed. "Alright guys let us turn away and allow the ladies privacy to dress" Erasiel instructed. A few minutes later everyone had changed, not just outfits but a in a few cases hair as well, Stormy had her hair straight something Erasiel had not seen from her ever: while Shilly had let down her hair. They each wore an exotic outfit different but similar to the outfit Stella wore, the colors were ones that they thought suited them, granted Stormy was wearing orange where she would usually be wearing burgundy, or red, and Pusilitia was clad in white that matched hair, though everyone else wore their usual color of clothing.

"This is so revealing" Vera commented shyly.

"Don't worry it's just to put on a good impression" Nimeria stated then they packed the sleeping bags.

"Ok, now follow them and me" Erasiel ordered after the camp had been packed. Erasiel asked the guards about Amentia and the things she liked, wanting to put on a good first impression and making sure that he didn't offend her, he soon discovered she was a perfectionist, was very beautiful but easy to anger, she loved martial pursuits but loved the arts as well, she liked the finest things you could get; Erasiel also discovered her height, size, and other things. Along the road Erasiel put together five gifts; the first was a spear made of Relix and reinforced by runes placed on it by the Dwarves, second was a masterwork Aetherium coat of plates it shimmed golden with crimson silk padding under the plates it was reinforced with Dwarven runes, it was designed specifically with a person of Amentia's build in mind, the third was satin silk gown made by finest tailors on Magix, his own the Handmaidens of Scalespire; fierce warriors but master artisans of many crafts, the forth was a fine necklace made of mithril and decorated with red star sapphires as well as being inscribed with Runes of protection and accompanying it were matching other pieces of jewelry, the fifth was several masterwork silk cushions wrapped in the softest of blankets as well as the warmest; Erasiel had been saving these for a wedding present; but they would make a good diplomatic gift, Erasiel also made sure he wore his regal armor without his helmet and made sure everything was spotless and not one thing was out of place; making sure not to even remotely anger the Princess's perfectionist side.

They marched forward following the crystals that dotted the cavern ceiling, Erasiel was introduced to the pixies who had bonded with Stella and Musa, their names were Amore and Tune, Amore was the Pixie of Love and emotions, she wore a crimson floral gown and sandals, with lime green wings and long red rose colored hair, she was fair as sunshine, Tune was pixie in a fine blue gown and obsessed with manners and making sure she looked proper, she had long purple hair in a 18th century style and had purple wings her skin was white. The march came until they arrived at great gateway, which the guards opened, it revealed a vast city carved into the cavern floor with grand architecture similar to that of Mayans, at the epicenter was grand palace, surrounded by grand aqueducts and gardens, near this was grand crystal similar to those found in the caverns they had passed thru. "Behold the Royal City of Downland" the Guard introduced.

"It's marvelous" Vera stated.

"It's a nice place" Stormy remarked.

"All this underground?" Musa questioned.

"Yes, the grandest of our cities" The guard replied, they strode thru the main gate, Erasiel instructed the girls to follow him in a certain pattern some carried the gifts he brought with him and with a grace that nothing was out of place, Stormy was carrying Stella, which would be to latter's chagrin if she woke up, but the spell would last a few hours yet; and Stormy was glad that Stella neither snored nor talked in her sleep.

"Why did you have me carry her?" Stormy asked Erasiel annoyed by Stella's weight.

"Because Stormy you are the strongest here besides me also can you imagine the hilarity that would ensue if the first person she saw when she woke up was you" Erasiel replied.

"Good point; I sure would like to see Stella's face if she did wake up" Stormy remarked.

Soon they approached the central plaza and passed the great bazaar in the center of the city where merchants purchased a variety of goods the markets were mix of Downlanders, Dwarves, Elves, both Deep Elves and Dark Elves, as well as few Skavan though these were few and far between, the Rat-Men were not the kind that commonly traded outside their race, and any that did had to be watched with both eyes for a double cross at all times. They then passed the Great Crystal; which according to the guards was the fountain from which their entire race's souls came from and that every Downlander was tied to a crystal in the caverns, the most pristine and those that broke off of the Great Crystal belonged to those of the Royal Bloodline. They then marched up a small hill and arrived at the courtyard where a line of nobles stood in front of them. "No! NO! and No! Guards see this fool out of my sight now!" a woman's voice yelled, suddenly a loud yell was heard as a man was flung out followed by his guards. "Next!" the voice shouted.

"That would be her highness Princess Amentia, at the moment she is up for marriage and numerous suitors have come her way, the Princess of Downland is allowed to wed whom she chooses once she comes of age, as soon as she marries she crowned Queen of Downland, and her royal parents step aside from the royal crown into retirement" The Guard explained.

"So that's great we have someone who's super picky and she's looking for a husband; that is nuts" Stormy remarked.

"Not to mention how are we going to explain that we aren't here as suitors" Musa remarked.

"For now its best that we just play along; we'll just have to show her that we are lost in the caves and we can get back to Ygg-Chall, or have them find our friends and get here, if I remember correctly there are some routes that will get us back to Magix City, in fact some entrances might go into the Catacombs under Alfea or Cloud Tower, Anyway we'll just have to see what happens" Erasiel commented optimistically.

"You are one heck of an optimist" Ivey remarked.

"I always thought the definition of an optimist was simple: an optimist takes a look at situation that looks completely impossible and then says 'Yeah alright I'll have a go' that's exactly how I am" Erasiel replied. The line narrowed, as more nobles either left dejected or were flung out, in addition there were also some commoners as well, so the definition of anyone meant anyone regardless of class. Soon it was narrowed down to one young Trog ahead of them: he had a bouquet of roses Erasiel however had keen eyesight even without his glasses and he didn't need them on to notice one of the roses had wilted; the rest were fine.

"Next" Amentia stated, then the young Trog approached her. "Ah Spontus again; well let's see if the gift is good this time" Amentia stated. "Flowers how sweet" Amentia commented then studied the flowers, then she discovered the wilted rose. "Spontus! Again, you disappoint me! One of these roses is wilted, that means the others are soon to follow! Thus, you have not brought the perfect gift, Guards!" Amentia stated and Spontus was seized by the guards. "Throw him out! Goodbye once again Spontus!" Amentia commented, and the guards lobbed him. "Next" Amentia stated at this point she was sounding like a person at the DMV who was getting rather annoyed with the people. Then her eyes fell on Erasiel and his on hers and they examined each other. Amentia was slim but well-endowed and graceful. She has purple hair, hazelnut eyes, a pale-yellow skin tone typical of her people, and war paint-like paint on her cheeks. She wore a pale red gown and an orange shawl around her arms. She also had a small crown on top of her head and wore sandals on her feet. "Well what have we here; a stunningly handsome man, a prince of some far away land at least if I can judge by the armor alone, and you are in top shape as well nothing out of place and you have a feathery cape" Amentia greeted Erasiel.

"My Tail actually; Lord Erasiel Nathan Darkar of House Darkar, son of Lord Argulus and Lady Avarra Darkar, brother to Zephyr, Irietta, Eris and Arantir Darkar; Emperor of Ygg-Chall and savior of the Magic Dimension about 10,000 times at least, probably more, as well the Phoenix King and consort Asha the Phoenix Queen and Greater Phoenix of Order" Erasiel introduced, with a flourish from his staff. "I come bearing gifts hoping to make a good impression on you and hope for diplomatic ties and helping me and my friends with our helps; ladies the gifts please" Erasiel instructed, Vera stepped up first on cushion was the spear. "A Spear made of the finest Relix and escribed by the master Dwarven Runesmith Rogni Earthbreaker" Erasiel explained, handing the weapon to Amentia, Amentia indicated to one of her guards and proceeded to engage in a mock combat with him, one which she quickly won.

"Impressive I love the feel of this weapon it is the finest weapon I've ever wielded, but you said you had more gifts well bring the forward" Amentia stated, then Pusilitia walked forward with the full set of Aetherium armor on a large cushion.

"A masterwork set of Aetherium armor, forged by the Dwarves specifically by the Master Smith Gamul Stormbeard, with runes forged by Rogni Earthbreaker; this armor is as light as silk but stronger than three-miles of granite; in other words there are very few things that can scratch this armor, let alone penetrate it, try it on for yourself" Erasiel stated, and Amentia took the armor and came back, dressed and moving with the grace of a ballet dancer; well a ballet dancer in full Dwarven forged plate and carrying a spear and preforming combat flourishes.

"This is fluid, it fits like a glove, it's fashionable but also quite functional" Amentia stated. "But surely there is more" Amentia noted.

"Yes, three more gifts in fact; Shilly if you would be so kind bring forth the next gift" Erasiel instructed, Shilly walked up carrying the gift of the silk gown. "This gown was woven by the finest tailors in the Magic Dimension, my Handmaidens in Scalespire; they have millennia in their skills both in battle but also in more peaceful pursuits; definitely in craftwork" Erasiel stated. Amentia felt the gown, the silk was soft, she then stepped aside and came back a few minutes later warring the crimson gown, the corset was embroidered with gold and silver and the girdle was made of mithril.

"I love this gown, it is so soft but so light it feels like blankets wrapped around my body, but they aren't falling off of me, there isn't a stitch out of place either this a true master's work" Amentia remarked. "The other gifts now!" Amentia stated, she was eager Erasiel could see it her voice. Musa stepped forward carrying the jewelry.

"Jewelry of the finest craft and made by the Dwarven master jeweler Karok Stonepolisher, it's made of mithril but studded with the rare Star Sapphire, the most prized of dwarven jewelry, very valuable and easily worth the value of an entire city" Erasiel explained, Amentia put on the jewelry, it suited her and fit perfectly, Erasiel made sure to only put one ring in the collection and focused on bracelets and jewelry that didn't require the fingers to wear.

"Stunning it looks amazing; it feels amazing" Amentia commented. "The next gift: please" Amentia begged and Nimeria brought up the last gift the silken bedding and pillows.

"The finest in bedding, again made by my handmaidens, they will make sleep easy to achieve" Erasiel stated.

"You have one last gift to give me: yourself Erasiel Darkar, Guards." Amentia replied, the guards came to her. "Dismiss all my other suitors, I need look no more; I have found my prince: You Erasiel Darkar!" Amentia stated, all the girls' jaws dropped at this revelation bar Stormy and Nimeria who expected something like this and were grinning at the hilarity of the situation.

"And I accept your proposal" Erasiel stated, he had no issues with this.

"Good, now I must see to arranging quarters for you and your handmaidens" Amentia stated.

"Actually, they are just my friends, close friends, well love interests and in the case of three of them partners though I won't name names of how those three are" Erasiel explained.

"Ah I see, well do not worry I take no offense to this, I will see your friends are treated well, and I must see to the wedding arrangements: Guards inform my parents that I have made my choice for a husband and that the wedding be held on the morrow, also see to informing everyone about it" Amentia replied, the guards scrambled to carry out her orders. "Follow me, I will show your friends to their quarters, you will stay with me in mine, once I have seen to this we must prepare a feast; as to regards to wedding, we will be wed tomorrow, if you have others to invite we will send messengers to them and escort them here, as for the wedding itself you will become my King but I will rule Downland, in addition to our wedding goes my dowry, my handmaidens, ladies-in-waiting and servants as your concubines; our oldest daughter will ascend to the throne once she comes of age and marries, other than that I will handle the day to day affairs of my kingdom and you may come back and forth as you please but before you leave you must bed me and your new concubines all of them; then you must take some of our virgin blood and offer it as burnt offering to insure fertility and health" Amentia explained.

"Do you really have to go that into detail?" Musa groaned.

"I am merely telling my husband to be what his duties will entail, you won't have to concern yourself with any of it, unless you are offering yourself as my handmaiden to become his concubine" Amentia replied.

"No nothing of the sort, I mean I love him but I- you know what its best if I shut up now" Musa replied. "Man, if I wanted to talk about topics regarding Erasiel's sex appeal I would be better off asking Flora about that or Tecna, she thinks no one else is better than him, well I agree with her, no one I've met so far is as good as him and I love him for it despite his nymphomania and his polyamory" Musa thought to herself, she then went on step further and wrapped her arms around Erasiel's arm as they walked.

The continued down the hallway and entered a grand hall and ascended a grand stair which lead to large hallway with many doors, the guards opened each room, these were empty of any residents, they were fully stocked out. "This wing of the Palace is our most prestigious guest wing, no one stays here without the approval of a member of the royal family, you have my approval to stay here, choose which ever room you want, it won't matter much they are near identical and kept fairly pristine" Amentia explained, each of the girls immediately left for a room bar Stormy, Musa, and a still sleeping Stella.

"Stormy stay with Stella until she wakes up" Erasiel ordered.

"Alright I'll laugh at her face though when I tell her what happened while she was out though, that will be a picture for the Cloud Tower student magazine I'll tell you that" Stormy replied.

"I'll stay with Stella, best she see another Winx with her when she wakes up" Musa explained.

"Thank you Musa, also give her this from me" Erasiel replied giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm not sure I can give that to her, but I can definitely let her know you're available" Musa stated, and left Erasiel with Amentia.

"So, this Stella what is she in terms of relation with you?" Amentia asked Erasiel.

"Friend dear friend, possible love interest, depends how she feels about me; she is a Princess though, the Princess of Solaria, she is very much like you in that she always tries to do her best; she's dear to me" Erasiel replied as they strolled down the halls.

"Well you should tell her how you feel about her at some point" Amentia commented.

"I know, but she's currently on a hiatus from dating anyone really, her last relationship well it ended on a sad note, neither of them broke each other's hearts or anything it was just a matter of that fact that well his friend a Prince had himself pose as him for security reasons, only problem said prince was a heartbreaker; trust me if you ever met that prince you would want to castrate him for what he's done, anyway his friend who's name is Brandon is his squire and he assumed his role, Brandon and Stella really loved each other but, when the whole thing was exposed, they broke up, they couldn't continue a relationship that had been started on a lie, it just wouldn't work out in the long run, both of them value honesty but they couldn't in good conscience continue to be romantically involved, their still friends but that's all they are now, the biggest hurdle for their relationship was Stella's royal line and that well their parents wouldn't approve of their relationship" Erasiel explained.

"Ah I see you are worried then her parents won't approve of your relationship?" Amentia replied.

"No not that, her father and I are actually good friends I actually trained him when he was boy, we've been friends ever since, but not the reason is I'm not sure if she feels that way about me, also on the topic my own parents I don't need their approval for any relationship; I've been out of their authority for a long time, I'll invite them to weddings and family reunions but ask their advice no: my Father would simply agree with me and my mother would be absolutely telling me no" Erasiel explained.

"You must have an interesting family" Amentia commented.

"Trust me you have no idea, my family is well big, and to a degree how should I put it hectic, and weird, and sometimes annoying but they're my family none the less and above all else we Phoenixes value our families first and foremost" Erasiel explained, they continued talking about this for a while.

Later… Stella groaned as she woke up. "Finally, you woke up sleeping beauty" Stormy remarked.

"Stormy? Where am I? And why are you wearing my dress?" Stella asked fully awake.

"Downland, specifically in the royal palace, also as to why I'm wearing your dress: Diplomatic protocol; mainly to make a good impression on the local leadership, you've been out for a while now" Stormy explained.

"Alright I'll buy that, now how did we get here and more importantly what happened, the last thing I remember I hit a rock after Nathan pulled me into that river" Stella responded.

"That, well for starters, Nathan saved your life, he kept you from drowning and kept you a float, also he repaired your dress, kept you warm at while you slept, and healed your worse injuries, by the way Stella I wouldn't try standing up; you broke both of your legs" Stormy replied.

"He saved me? Well he did pull me into the river, but he saved me; also, my legs are broken?" Stella remarked and then tried to get up, but searing pain went thru both legs. "Yeouch! Alright Stormy I believe you on the legs front, they are definitely broken" Stella stated.

"I told you so, also you are perfectly fine, and we are in good hands, Nathan impressed the local princess with diplomatic gifts, also was looking for suitors and was absolutely smitten by him, they are going to marry tomorrow" Stormy explained.

"Wait! He's getting married, how did he manage to pull that one off? Also, how am I supposed to get around with my legs broken?" Stella asked.

"Ok first question: she was looking for a future husband and had gone thru a bunch of suitors, Nathan gave her best gifts and fit all the criteria she was looking for in a husband, but that isn't a problem remember he's not monogamous, as to getting you about I'll see about getting you a wheel-chair to move about in" Stormy responded, when the door opened, Musa walked in wearing another of Stella's outfits.

"Oh, Stella you're awake I was worried, just left your bedside to use the bathroom and I'm back; are you alright?" Musa stated.

"I'm fine apart from the broken legs and that everyone seems to be wearing my clothes without my permission for diplomatic reasons; and that fact that Nathan is getting married without telling me" Stella replied.

"You were out for a day Stella" Musa explained.

"Oh yes, of course, well now don't just stand there, Stormy you said you were going to try and find a wheelchair please do that now, I can't just lie in bed all day, also Musa see if you can find me some local clothing, the kind of nobility, in fact just ask the Princess she will probably know where to find some, as for me well I'll just lay here until you get back" Stella instructed, Stormy and Musa did as she asked and left the room.

"Bossy much" Musa remarked after she and Stormy got a respectable distance from Stella's room.

"Completely Musa, normal sometimes I wonder how we are still friends with her" Stormy remarked.

"Mainly because her faults are easily made up for by her good traits, and because she is well, a princess who doesn't look down on those not of nobility" Musa replied.

"Please royalty that looks down on the public is so rare now a days, anyway how picky do you think Stella will be about the outfit?" Stormy replied.

"Please this is Stella were talking about, She'll probably go through 50 outfits before even considering which one is suitable for her choice, let alone which is fashionable" Musa remarked and they both laughed.

Meanwhile…. Erasiel and Amentia's journey led them to the throne room where the current Queen and King sat on their thrones; they were both rather obese and had yellow skin that was where the similarities ended, Amentia's mother had the same purple hair as Amentia and navy-blue eyes, despite her obese weight she was still rather fair of face. The King had navy hair and a goatee, his eyes were hazelnut like Amentia's and he was stern of face. "Erasiel these are my parents, King Enervus and Queen Feoda, father and mother this is the one I have chosen as my betrothed, he is Lord Erasiel Nathan Darkar, the Emperor of Ygg-Chall and the Phoenix King; his noble status is unquestionable, and he has met my high standards for a husband, not just met them exceeded them" Amentia explained.

"Indeed, he seems to be a charming young man, however what do you have to say for yourself Lord Darkar?" King Enervus asked.

"Well for starters, Lord Darkar is my father, please refer to me as Nathan, as to my heritage, well I am a member of House Darkar one of the most prestigious and great Phoenix Houses, I am the son of Lord Argulus Darkar of Shadowhaunt and Lady Avarra 'Brightstone' Darker of Brightspire, I have four siblings, two older sisters: Zephyr and Irietta, my twin sister Eris, and my younger and quite queer brother Arantir; I have a long and prestigious history as well as numerous family records, I am one of the most powerful magic users in the Magic Dimension and the Head of the Wizard's Council; the active head so to speak I generally stay out of the Council politics unless it is absolutely important and defer to the more politically savvy of my associates in my party specifically the ones who won't do stupid things as well as those who I can trust; on top of that I am a former Professor of the Graynor Academy; the ill-fated original academy not the current one; other than these I am a firm follower of Asha and her herald and prophet, I am also her consort and thus am Phoenix King; I have a number of other titles but if I listed those off we would be here all month; therefore I await your approval; know that your daughter however has already chosen" Erasiel stated.

"I see, well Feoda dear what do you think?" King Enervus asked.

"I personally approve it, know that is I who makes the final call on this, the female is the royal head of state and the bloodline that matters, however I trust Amentia has already explained this; Enervus what do you think?" Queen Feoda responded.

"I personally like the man, he has a long and proven record of nobility, he is a perfect choice for Amentia; I only have one thing to request of him and that is he takes good care of our daughter" King Enervus noted.

"I see then we are in agreement, you have our blessing daughter, I trust you have given the necessary orders for the ceremony?" Queen Feoda said.

"I have mother, we are to be wed on the morrow, now with your permission I will take leave, and show my husband to be around the palace and introduce him to those who he will take as concubines" Amentia stated, she and Erasiel left. A few minutes later they arrived at a hall in which statues of the previous queens and their kings were arrayed.

"These are the previous rulers of Downland, each of the Queens was allowed to take whomever they wished as a spouse" Amentia explained, Erasiel looked over the statues and noted the variety, the Queens were fair to look upon but had some uniformity in appearance, he noted the most recent statue was of Amentia and had yet to have an accompanying statue, he then noted that the Queen of five generations back had a Horse for a husband.

"A horse for husband?" Erasiel questioned.

"Oh yes that, Queen Inderve; very eccentric and a bit mental, and before you ask yes we can breed with horses; though the results are interesting, don't worry we the offspring weren't centaurs" Amentia replied.

"Still though that is abnormal, I heard tale of this emperor, Caligula, about 2000 years ago who made his horse his chief advisor; he was insane but also he made a good political statement and that was he trusted his horse more than any of the aristocracy of similar status" Erasiel explained.

"Interesting what happened to this Emperor" Amentia asked.

"He was assassinated by his own bodyguards over a bad joke; and I'm not joking about that; he called the leader of his bodyguards effeminate and he didn't like that at all, a day later he was killed by his body guards though it took 50 stabs to actually kill him and I'm not joking about that either, remember these guys were the most elite soldiers his empire had to offer yet it took then 50 stabs with swords to kill him" Erasiel explained, Amentia laughed at this. "I'm serious" Erasiel stated.

"I know you are, but the whole situation is rather hilarious isn't it, anyway nothing of the sort happened to Queen Inderve, she lived a long and prosperous life, though it took her 10 children before she had a daughter, and then another 20 years before that daughter found a husband" Amentia explained "Any other crazy people you know with horses?" Amentia asked.

"Actually yes, my colleague Balthazar Gelt comes from a different world and a large Empire, in this Empire there is an Emperor who rules over several different counties each of which is represented by an Elector Count, who is a prince in their own right, every time the Emperor dies they elect one of their number as the new Emperor, now of these counts there is a Count by the name of Marius Leitdorf, he is the Count of Averland and often referred to as the Mad Count of Averland, he is a military genius and a good leader, however he is insane; his chief advisor is his horse Daisy Kurt von Helboring II, whose name is actually an insult to the top general in the Empire the Reiksmarshal Kurt Helborg whom Marius dislikes; anyway his horse has given him some actually good advice allowing him to win some battles" Erasiel explained.

"An interesting character, any exploits to his name?" Amentia stated.

"Well he is known for a number of victories against the Greenskins and the Vampire counts of Sylvania; he also has won victories against trees, bees, and fishmen and he is infamous for attacking the Moot, and viciously killing Halflings for the non-payment of taxes even though the Moot is its own separate county with their own Elector; as to how halflings managed to get their own county well it was because of this Emperor: Ludwig the Fat who gave the county to a Halfling Chef who made him the best meal he ever had and thus gave him a land for his fellow Halflings; well gave them land he stole from the counties of Averland and Stirland and this happened to be their best farmland; basically he kicked out the people living there and the Halflings moved in. Anyway, Marius attacked the Halflings which was not a tolerable action by the Emperor, one Karl Franz; so, he sent his champion Ludwig Schwartzhelm to discuss the matter with Marius, now Ludwig is the Emperor's personal champion and one of the best fighters in the Empire the only equals to him are Kurt Helborg and the Emperor himself, anyway Karl figured that one of three things would happen; A. Marius challenged Ludwig to a fight and died in said fight. B. That he would imprison Ludwig and thus give the Emperor a reason to dethrone Marius and put someone else in his place or C. Marius would knock it off and withdraw from the Moot" Erasiel explained.

"Which choice did Marius make?" Amentia asked fascinated by the story.

"Well surprisingly Marius knocked it off and paid recompense to the Halflings and so far hasn't attacked them since" Erasiel answered.

"Well he is certainly an interesting character even more then that Emperor Caligula you told me about earlier" Amentia stated. "Anyway, we must see the sculptor her name is Iriti and she is one of my handmaidens and the greatest sculptor in Downland" Amentia explained.

"I see I guess this for my statue isn't it?" Erasiel replied.

"Yes it is" Amentia explained, and they went into the next room where they found Iriti, she was a beautiful Downlander clad in a green toga and a pair of sandals, she had long navy-Blue hair and green eyes, her skin was the same pale yellow as every other Downlander he had met so far. "Iriti, you don't have to wait anymore, I have chosen my husband to be and your soon to be partner" Amentia explained.

"I can see that, boy his such a stud, you chose well Amentia; now I must get to sculpting, first off though I need him to change into the attire of a prince; have him do that first, I'll ready the clay and my chisel" Iriti responded.

"Yes indeed, come on Erasiel, I must see to getting you a suitable outfit, one of your choosing of course" Amentia explained. They left the room and returned about 15 minutes later, Erasiel was clad in a fine orange cave-cotton shirt and tunic, over which was a purple cloth, he wore a crown of gold decorated with emeralds, he also wore sandals, Amentia had painted the markings of a groom on his hands and face.

"You look handsome my dear Erasiel" Iriti remarked.

"Not yours yet Iriti, but I do say I've out done myself" Erasiel stated.

"Indeed, now stand over there and hold your staff, I will need you to strike a pose of glory with your staff and hold it for a few seconds, once I have the picture in my mind I can sculpt it flawlessly" Iriti stated, Erasiel did as instructed and held his staff aloft for about a minute. "Excellent now you're done with your pose, now leave me; I will take a couple hours to finish my work and then it will have to dry; off you go I must have no distractions" Iriti stated.

"Erasiel it is late in the day, it is best that we retire to my quarters, I will introduce you to your future concubines" Amentia explained.

"Yes, but I need to do one thing first, send messenger to the Dark elf city of Igzera, my other friends well have made it there by then" Erasiel stated.

Meanwhile… Bloom paced back and forth while Flora wept in the corner, Icy was in grief; Kerborg stood stoically. "They have been gone so long I'm worried about them" Bloom noted. "Kerborg can you try and see if you can get in touch with Nathan again I'm worried sick about him" Bloom commented.

"Yes, I can do that" Kerborg noted then sent of a physic link, sudden he got a reply.

"Kerborg? Good to see you've finally got thru, is everyone alright?" Erasiel responded physically.

"Yes, everyone made it thru the caverns unscathed, our pursuers gave up the chase when they lost in the caverns" Kerborg explained.

"Good and the Pixies?" Erasiel asked.

"All here and present, none of them were recaptured" Kerborg explained.

"Good is Piff alright?" Erasiel asked.

"She is sleeping like a baby my lord" Kerborg responded.

"Good, now I need you to get the others together and get guides to Downland, get there as fast as possible, you'll meet up with messengers along the way, I'm getting married, also tell the others that those with me are alright apart from Stella, she broke both her legs in the rapids of an underground river" Erasiel instructed.

"Yes, my lord it will be done" Kerborg stated. "Good news Bloom, I've got in touch he and the others are alright and they are in Downland" Kerborg stated.

"Thank goodness, are they alright" Bloom asked.

"Everyone is fine apart from Stella, she broke both of her legs" Kerborg explained.

"I see well that's better than any of them being dead" Icy remarked. "What about Stormy is she alright?" Icy asked.

"Yes, she is along with everyone else, Lord Erasiel instructed me to gather all of you and get guides to take us to Downland" Kerborg explained.

"So, he isn't heading here to us, why is that?" Flora asked.

"He didn't say; I am assuming it must be diplomatic reasons, I assume the Downlanders have held him up for some negotiations" Kerborg stated.

"Well I hope we don't have to save his butt" Icy remarked.

"He said he and the others were fine I assume that whatever reason he is still in Downland must be a good one" Kerborg stated.

"Well we can hope that; still betting we'll might have to save him" Icy stated.

"Any reason you say that?" Bloom remarked.

"You've been with him enough to know he gets into trouble very often" Icy replied.

"Oh, you're right I guess I'm too optimistic" Bloom replied.

"Don't worry Bloom, I'm sure he meant what he said when he said he and the other were fine" Icy replied. "Just a bit concerned that's all, just might have to bail him out" Icy noted.

"One more thing you must dress in regal clothing, you will want to make good impression" Kerborg noted.

Later…. Erasiel had been introduced to Amentia's handmaids and ladies in waiting, each of them were beautiful and athletically fit, Amentia insisted on each of them knowing how to fight, believe that the warrior profession was the most important; if you can't protect what you have you aren't going to be able to keep it. Milatra was the chief of the Handmaids, she had long purple hair much like Amentia, but she kept it in pigtails, she had blue eyes and was gorgeous, each of her handmaids were in fact. "Now the evening grows late Erasiel and thus we must retire, we shall head to the boudoir mine paramour" Amentia noted. "We shall not mate until after our marriage, however we will sleep without any clothing as is custom, a worthy groom will prove his loyalty by leaving his bride a virgin until they are wed" Amentia explained, they then entered the bedroom and the door was shut behind them, they disrobed of all clothing and wrapped themselves in the blankets, Amentia however snuggled with him as she fell asleep, Erasiel wrapped his feathered tail around her and he stared at the ceiling for a moment, he then slept.

That night he dreamt of old battles specially those against his fellow Phoenixes in the Phoenix Wars; the conflicts he considered the worse because if there was one thing Erasiel despised above all else was having to fight those of his own kind who's hearts were vile and sought to comment all kinds of atrocities. His foes were however replaced by Abolithon, for every enemy had his face, he noted it was dream however and replaced the surroundings with that of his gardens in Scalespire, with large groups of lovely maidens and nymphs as well as young maids, none had clothing and he then participated in acts of pleasure with each. As the dream continued Erasiel soon was awakened by Amentia. "Good morning my love: the day has come, we must get ready" Amentia explained, she had already redressed, Erasiel got up, realizing he had overslept as he normally did.

Shortly after dressing he left with Amentia and soon was met by two people, specifically Icy and Bloom, who were dressed in fine Dark Elven clothing

"There you are you have any idea how worried we were for you, now what did you do while we were separated, get invited to marry a Princess, how the hell did you pull that off" Icy exclaimed.

"By sheer luck and being prepared for any situation Icy, I'm so glad to see you" Erasiel responded hugging her, which she reciprocated, Bloom also hugged him.

"I'm so glad to see you alright" Icy responded with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad to see you and the others are fine, though Stella did chew my ear off over my choice of outfit, I thought it looked great" Bloom stated.

"Did she tell you I saved her life?" Erasiel noted.

"She did, though I am sad about her legs" Bloom stated.

"Don't worry when we get back to Alfea Nurse Ofeila will patch those up" Erasiel explained.

"And you can't?" Bloom noted.

"I'm not a medical expert and Phoenix tears don't heal bones" Erasiel noted. "In fact, there are few spells that can mend broken bones" Erasiel noted.

"I see, well I'm glad you did all you could for Stella anyway Nathan" Bloom responded.

"Now I need to see to preparations for the ceremony, I'll need to get ready and on top of that I'm going to see Stella and see how she is doing" Erasiel explained. "One more thing Bloom what were the names of the Pixies who went with you and the others, and who bounded with who?" Erasiel asked.

"Well my pixie's name is Lockette, she's the one with pink hair and the pink dress, Flora bonded to a chatty pixie named Chatta who is obsessed with gossip of any kind, Ayesha bonded to a baby pixie named Piff, Tecna bonded to this techy pixie named Digit, Diaspro bounded to a pixie named Mola who is the pixie of Gems, then Francis bounded to this other baby pixie named Glim; so far all the Pixies have been well chatty apart from Piff who has been sleeping, anything else you want to know?" Bloom replied.

"No but I do have one thing to let you know, because of the threat posed by Abolithon to the Pixies I will be going to Alfea indefinitely, in fact I will probably serve there as an assistant teacher; so, look forward to me being around a lot more" Erasiel responded.

"Hey what about me and my sisters?" Icy asked.

"Don't worry I'll still be teaching you three, or now four, just later in the day then we used to and more on the weekends, other than that you'll still have your own classes at Cloud Tower to attend." Erasiel explained.

"Well that's reassuring" Icy commented.

"I'll have to see to getting you and your sisters pixies at some point but that will have to wait until later, when Abolithon's guard has slipped or when he is distracted" Erasiel stated. "For now, I have other things to attend, see you later at my wedding, also try not to antagonize the locals same rules as in Ygg-Chall other than that you are fine" Erasiel stated and then left.

Later… Stella sat in a wheelchair looking out the window at Downland. "What an interesting city, I would so go shopping here if my legs weren't broken, at least I didn't lose anything in that river" Stella thought to herself, suddenly her eyes were covered.

"Guess who?" Erasiel teased.

"I know it's you Nathan" Stella replied.

"Good to see you awake, you took a beating in that river, trust me Stella, I managed to heal what I could but not everything" Erasiel stated.

"No biggie, you saved my life that I am grateful for and won't forget anytime soon" Stella replied. "Now tell me more about this Princess Amentia and more importantly how you managed to pull that whole thing off; I still can't believe all this actually happened" Stella inquired.

"As for the pulling this off, well I'm on smooth operator for one, secondly I know how interact with people, know how study them, I need little information, I've got millennia of experience, third: Amentia was desperate she had gone thru about 20 suitors before I came to her, and with a bit of information from the guards I managed to know what gifts would impress her also as to why I was carrying gifts like that around and how I was; well first off I like to be prepared for any situation, secondly, bottomless well spells on my bags, in fact more advanced, private storage dimensions for each bag; trust me I've got something for every situation in there, regardless of size" Erasiel explained. "Now as to Amentia she's nice once you get to know her, very kind to those she respects, but she has a short-temper and she's a perfectionist, do anything that annoys her or fail to give her proper attention she'll throw you about 10 yards, I've seen her do that" Erasiel noted. "as to her appearance well she is very beautiful, and extremely fit, over all I love her; she loves me, there isn't much not to love" Erasiel explained.

"I see, now I hope you weren't trying to woe me, it takes a lot more then saving my butt to get me to offer my hand in marriage" Stella stated.

"Is it enough to get you to date me?" Erasiel replied.

"Well I guess so, but not now, I'm still on a hiatus, give a me a week to think on it then we'll see about dating also I hope we can get out of here soon, the lack of sunlight is starting to make me sick" Stella replied. Erasiel soon left and Stella resumed thinking "Idiot Stella, you should have told him how you felt about him then and there" Stella's conscience stated. "I wasn't sure if he felt the same way about me; I'm not going to rush into a relationship that might not work out, especially not so soon after what happened with Brandon" Stella replied to her conscience. "It has been seven months since you and Brandon broke it off, and you did so on good terms, what's to worry about with Erasiel?" her conscience chimed back. "Well he's a womanizer" Stella bluntly stated. "So, he isn't a heartbreaker, and more importantly he cares for the women he loves" her conscience replied. "Well I'm worried he wouldn't feel the same about me" Stella stated, and the debate continued.

Two hours later… The great courtyard of the palace gardens was now filled with guests, the alter was maned by a fat but jolly priest, Erasiel stood looking at the crowd clad in the wedding outfit Amentia had chosen for him, this consisted of a tunic, a vest, two golden wristbands, an articulated cuirass, and a crown made of gold and decorated with emeralds, the cloth was purple and crimson, he wore sandals and his tail hung out the back. He studied the audience, recognized familiar faces, in addition to the Winx a number of his Dark Elf associates were there alongside Kerborg and Gripmaw, both stood in front of him directly with their backs to him as they were his best-men, he noted that to his side was another person a herald with the royal crown of Downland sitting on it, as soon as they were wed Amentia would be crowned Queen, Erasiel noted that this would be off immense use to him, especially that when their first daughter was old enough and got married she would rule Downland; granted having a daughter was easy, 75% of children a Phoenix would have were female, the females outnumbered males by the shocking margin. Soon trumpets rung out, Erasiel noted as Amentia strode forward accompanied by her handmaids and other Ladies in waiting who would soon be his concubines, each were beautiful, though Amentia was the fairest of them all, with Iriti and Milatra coming second, however every one of the future concubines were beautiful. Amentia wore a radiant gown, it was crimson and gold, it left her navel bare, and highlighted her curves, the corset of the gown made her breasts smaller than usual, the tail of the gown hugged the ground, her head was unadorned apart from her vail and bejeweled broach in her hair, she wore the jewelry he had given her yesterday. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we welcome you to a new chapter in Downland's history, the time where once again the crown is passed to a new queen, and like all passings of the crown it begins with a wedding; today in the eyes of the gods we seal together two souls in eternal union, for the first time in Downland's history however our Princess will wed a Phoenix, and not just any Phoenix but a member of the most prestigious house Darkar; today we will bind in eternal union Lord Erasiel Nathan Darkar, and Princess Amentia I as well as bestow her highness's handmaids, servants, and ladies in waiting as concubines to her husband as is tradition: now let the bride come forth" the Crier announced, Amentia and her attendants came forward, Amentia strode up the Alter to Erasiel's side, behind the alter the aqueducts flowed into the Hanging Gardens that festooned the Palace courtyard; the alter had a silver basin in it.

"To recognize and seal this union, it is done as all unions must be done, both the bride and groom shall step forward to the alter and repeat the vows of marriage" the Priest explained, both Erasiel and Amentia stepped forward and said words in the tongue of Downland, speaking the vows of love and marriage. "Now that those vows have been spoken step forward" the Priest explained and pulled out a ceremonial knife. "As is our custom a marriage can only be sealed in blood, no other offering will do, both spouses take on the duty to protect each other from all threats and from death; to represent it both the Bride and Groom shall outstretch their dominant hand" The Priest explained. Erasiel and Amentia did so and held their hands over the basin; the Priest cut open the palms of both the bride and groom who let blood pour into the basin, Erasiel's red blood mixed with the green blood of Amentia, the priest then wrapped a red cloth around the wounds of both. "Thus, has the offering been made, now the gods judge it worthy, the bride and groom are sealed to each other and the concubines are likewise sealed to the groom, you may kiss the bride" the Priest explained, Erasiel then kissed Amentia who kissed back aggressively. "Now for the final ceremony, the bedding, the groom shall now bed his bride and concubines at take a white cloth to collect their virgin blood, take the cloth to the alter and burn it, to insure fertility and health said ritual will be done in private" the Priest explained, a few people were completely weirded out by the last part.

A herald strode up. "Now for the latter half of the ceremony, the coronation, step forward Princess and Prince" the herald explained, both did so. "In the eyes of our gods and in the eyes of people, as is tradition, we crown a new ruler upon the wedding of the heir; thus, we crown now Princess Amentia" the Herald explained, and the priest grabbed the crown.

"All hail Queen Amentia, first of her name; Queen of Downland, daughter of Feoda XVII, long live the Queen!" the Priest stated as Amentia rose. "All King Erasiel Darkar, first of his name, King of Downland, Emperor of Ygg-Chall, Son of Argulus, long live the King!" the Priest stated and as Erasiel rose cries of "Long Live the Queen!" and "Long live the King!" rose out from the audience. "Does her majesty have anything to say?" the Priest asked.

"No, I will proceed to the bedding, no admittance to royal chambers by any bar his highness's concubines, on pain of death! After the bedding the feast will be held" Amentia stated and she and Erasiel withdrew followed by Erasiel's new concubines.

The hike to the bedchambers proved easy enough, no one barred the approach, they strode thru an outer room meant guard the approach, and the guards that had followed them assumed sentry crossing great pole-axes across the door, barring entry to any; then Erasiel and Amentia proceeded to a large bedroom, where a large bed was ready, on a nearby table were number of white clothes. "Concubines relieve me, and you master of any clothing, then assume disrobe yourselves and wait your turn, Iriti and Milatra will go after me, the white cloth shall be brought forward for each" Amentia instructed. The concubines removed Amentia's gown and stripped Erasiel of his garb leaving both naked; then Iriti brought a white cloth and handed it to Erasiel.

"For the Queen, master" Iriti explained.

"Yes, please call me Erasiel" Erasiel instructed, Amentia spread herself out for him.

"No foreplay, you are to take my virginity first, after such you are free to do as you please, my concubines and myself and knowledgeable in the seven arts of pleasure and the seven seats of love" Amentia explained, Erasiel obliged pulled her legs and entered her, in his right hand he held the cloth which was soon red with blood, Amentia didn't wince; then Erasiel slowly thrusted into her tossing the cloth to the side he wrapped his arms and pulled her to his face and kissed her, they kissed as Erasiel slowly thrusts, near them the concubines were content to watch. Erasiel's lips tenderly kiss Amentia's he grasped her butt-cheeks and turned over allowing her to ride him cowboy-style. Amentia moaned with pleasure as Erasiel's thrusts intensified, he then changed forms again after a minute spooning her as he drank from her breasts; the milk was sweet as wine to Erasiel, his thrusts upped further and within few more minutes he had peaked out and unloaded in Amentia, this load quite fertile and was guaranteed for the child. Erasiel then pulled out and lowered himself to suck Amentia's netherlips, his tongue moved back and forth, and Amentia moaned harder, his hands massaged her breasts and her limit was soon reached and her fluids poured out, Erasiel consumed them all. "Enough of you pleasing me, allow me to pleasure you" Amentia stated and lifted Erasiel who turned over, Amentia wrapped her amble E-cups around his phallus and massaged up and down, then wrapped her tongue around the tip before sucking, the Downlander gave him an impressive blowjob, preforming feliatio like an expert, were it not for the blood stains on the white cloth he would have assumed she wasn't a virgin given how skilled she was.

The pleasure from Amentia continued, Erasiel soon unloaded creaming her face and breast in a nice bukkake before flipping her over and taking her from behind, she was extra tight and extra thicc, his hand grasped her buttchecks swiveling them, soon again he finished leaving Amentia worn out. "Iriti you are next" Erasiel commented, the sculptor strode forward dancing all the way, with another white cloth in hand, Erasiel took her anally first as he had been eyeing Iriti's extra thicc ass since he saw yesterday; the pleasure proved great for Iriti, Erasiel continued for ten minutes before taking Iriti's cherry as well, she squeaked with pleasure then he pleased her, suckling her breasts like a babe his hands palming her hair, her hands petting his tail. Soon Iriti was at her limit, then Milatra came, she was followed by more, another after another, Erasiel's love session lasted for 2 hours, before Amentia and all 20 concubines lay passed out, Erasiel himself redressed went to the balcony after grabing the cloths and flew off to the large pyramid temple, where he burned the cloths as instructed


	31. Arc 2 Chapter 5

Chapter 5: the Mysterious Stone and a New teacher

Two Days had passed since Erasiel's wedding to Amentia and since then he had moved into Alfea, Faragonda had given him the position of assistant teacher without batting an eye, Erasiel had taken a small office which he decorated with things of his previous trials and adventures, as well as keepsakes and knickknacks, as well as some pictures, those of family and of other people he held dear. Erasiel's new job involved him assisting the teachers of each class, his primary charges were the Pixies and by extension the Winx, the one he focused on the most was his Daughter Piff who's picture sat on his desk along with one of her and her sister being held by her mother Ninfea and himself. His office also had a window to see out into the Courtyard, which he had opened as he had seen a gathering; this was not a gathering of faeries but of Pixie pets and three pixies; Livy and two unbonded Pixies: Plisse; the Pinkette with long hair and silver wings, and Camilla the pixie with pigtails who was Tune's friend and Piff's baby sitter. Livy was putting on a puppet show portraying the day's events it was late afternoon and interesting things had happened earlier. Suddenly a small bear with white fur and blue wings walked into the group.

"Hello Livy, what did I miss?" The bear greeted and asked.

"Hello Big-Eared bear, we were right at the part of the play where a mysterious figure entered the picture" Livy explained.

"Can you start it over Livy?" Big-Eared bear asked.

"Yes, I can; let's start from the beginning" Livy noted, in addition to Camilla's puppetry and her story telling, Plisse had been passing around cut-out figures of the people in the story as the plot advanced, also among the pixie-pets was Kiko sticking out like a blue rabbit would among pets with wings.

Erasiel thought to himself as Livy began to tell the story again how it truly began.

The Previous night… a mild rainstorm poured outside Alfea; Faragonda was moving about in a hooded cloak over her day clothes, moving as stealthy thru the hallway as a she could when she was stopped by an all too familiar person. "Going out for a late-night stroll?" Erasiel remarked he was clad in his instructor's garb.

"Nothing of the sort, I'm on business I'm supposed to meet with someone" Faragonda explained.

"And I can't go with you?" Erasiel remarked.

"No; I intended the whole thing to be a surprise, but I guess I can let you in on the secret or part of it" Faragonda stated.

"And that secret being?" Erasiel replied.

"That Alfea will have new full-time teacher for a new class, and said teacher is an old and dear friend of ours, other than that well I can at least surprise you with who it is and what comes next" Faragonda explained.

"Alright; I'm up for a little surprise, though saying it is an old and dear friend of ours is a long and formidable list" Erasiel remarked.

"Trust me Erasiel you'll know him when we see him" Faragonda replied, Erasiel donned a hooded Cloak which was different in color then hers and the two proceeded outside into the rain, then wandered down the safe paths that skirted the Darkwood Forest, the path eventually took them to the shores of Lake Teransia, where a hooded figure stood in front of the lake shore, to the side was a modest camp.

"It's a late night to be out by yourself" Erasiel remarked.

"Faragonda? I thought this was a private meeting" the Figure stated.

"Erasiel caught me sneaking out and thus I allowed him to tag along" Faragonda.

"And it was a good thing I did, though you did fool me Faragonda, you didn't just hire an old friend as a teacher, you hired a relative of mine: I'm right aren't I; Avalon" Erasiel remarked, they removed their hoods as the rain had let up enough for it; Avalon was tall and muscular, with a fair complexion. He had gray eyes, his hair color is indigo with a dark blue streak on each side, it was long and braided, and held in place by a light blue long clothed hair tie. His tail hung out slight and was golden in color, he wore a dark blue cloak over his usual attire.

"Erasiel it has been a long time, 17 years now" Avalon remarked.

"Yes it has, I'm still on the ninth incarnation, still up and about and well poking my nose where trouble is; other than that it's the same old me; though Nebula was taken by the Wizards of Black Circle about 12 years ago but I put them in the Omega Dimension they won't be able to escape there anytime soon, also I have good news; the Trix have come of age, I found Bloom and she knows about her heritage and is enrolled at Alfea, curtesy of yours truly, on top of that I have more amazing news: Grand Templar Arsonious is dead! Bloom killed him and now his charred corpse rots at the bottom of Lake Roccaluchee; and the Lighthaveners have been utterly humiliated" Erasiel explained. "So where have you been in my absence Avalon, it's been a while and I bet you have stories to tell" Erasiel asked.

"As to where I've been Erasiel, well collecting artifacts lost in the war and purging the leftovers from the Ancestresses forces, I've also been keeping ties with our friends and searched for Bloom, I've also been tutoring young Thoren in the ways of the Paladin he is coming along quite well" Avalon explained.

"I'm sure you two could discuss your adventures in the last 17 years for another 17 years, however we are here on business; Avalon will be joining Alfea as our Magic-Philosophy teacher; a new course about advanced magic spells and understand the use of magic and how it has been used" Faragonda explained.

"An interesting concept is it the only new course? if so I am shocked" Erasiel remarked.

"Not at all, Professor Palladium will be teaching a new class as first period, it will be understand and applying magic which will teach cantrip spells that any magic user can use and how to use them" Faragonda stated.

"Good, I just hope people actually pay attention to Palladium this year, last year Bloom told me the class was a madhouse also that would have him teaching two subjects" Erasiel remarked.

"No worries, Palladium has improved since last year and with you there I'm certain the students will focus on the lesson, as for his class on Magical Creatures well I've got someone in line for that job and I'm confident in her expertise in this field, until that's ironed out Palladium will have to teach a secondary class" Faragonda remarked.

"Yes, but they might be focusing on me specifically Faragonda, also who is this other new teacher" Erasiel replied.

"Enough is enough, the first class in Magic-Philosophy will be taught tomorrow by Griselda, Professor Avalon will be introduced later, as to the new study of Magical Creatures teacher well I'm finishing ironing out the details, but you and I know her quite well and you can figure out who she is yourself" Faragonda explained.

"First lesson? Faragonda I'm pretty sure the teacher is supposed to be there for the first class, anyway what kind of lesson are you planning to teach anyway" Erasiel replied.

"A lesson in humility and knowing your limits" Faragonda stated, then summoned a large black monolith. "This monolith is impervious to most magical attacks, it will withstand any abuse" Faragonda explained.

"No, it won't" Erasiel remarked. "In fact, you haven't actually made it strong enough Faragonda; observe" Erasiel stated then turned into his regal armor form. "Firestorm!" Erasiel casted sending out a barrage of fireballs at the monolith's center, the impact from the spell shattered the monolith. "See, like I said not it wouldn't hold up, if Bloom hits this with her strongest attack the monolith will shatter as demonstrated, now summon another and I will improve it, so it actually can't be shattered unless you know exactly how" Erasiel explained, Faragonda summoned up another monolith.

"I can be of help here Erasiel" Avalon offered.

"Yes, now we need to place some magic etches and runes on the monolith, the more powerful they are the better, preferably something that only you and I could break" Erasiel replied and the two Phoenix outstretched their hands and began to chant in their language, for each word they spoke a rune or etched figure appeared on the monolith, soon a few minutes later they stopped, and it was etched.

"Now observe Faragonda: Flame Storm!" Erasiel exclaimed and the barrage of fireballs impacted the monolith, it was unscratched. "I didn't think you would have to learn your own lesson Faragonda, but I guess it's been while since I last instructed you" Erasiel remarked.

"Indeed, well we should be going tomorrow morning the students will awake and see the monolith from Alfea" Faragonda replied.

"Yes, Avalon are you coming with?" Erasiel asked.

"No, I will be staying here for the night, as part of the plan" Avalon replied.

"Well see you tomorrow" Erasiel stated and he and Faragonda left.

Later that night: Unknown to Erasiel or anyone else, bar me the author, there were other people up that night. Avalon slept in his tent when he received a rude awakening, he was seized by several armored Phoenixes and dragged outside. Avalon noted his captors had slipped magic suppressive cuffs on him, and he was brought out, the night was dark, the skies rainy, Avalon's pajamas where quickly caked in mud by the warriors carrying him, in front of him where 7 Phoenixes accompanied by several monstrous tar black skinned creatures with two axes and clad in armor, their helmet revealed their maws of sharp teeth and they had bat like tails, three wore black plate helmets with a narrow visor for the eyes, their helmets were featureless apart from the spiked top of the visor mask and they were similar to a full helm but more exotic, they each wielded different weapons, and were different in height, two of the Phoenix were women both fair of face and had black and crimson hair, they were clearly twins, the tallest of the 7 wore dark purple and indigo armor, and held his helmet as his side in one arm, the other had a massive great-axe with multiple blades on it, at his side was a longsword and slung over his shoulder a large aegis shield, he had dark burgundy hair and tanned skin, his wings were semi-bat-like in appearance and blood colored, the last Phoenix the one in the center he knew quite well. "Abolithon?" Avalon questioned.

"Yes Avalon, I've returned, Shadowhaunt has fallen, and my house will rise, you will soon join Argulus Darkar in Shadowhaunt's dungeon along with all of his other servants, however I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Erasiel and well I think it presents me with an opportunity" Abolithon remarked with a smirk.

"Whatever it is you are planning you won't get away with it, Erasiel will recognize any imposter you send in my place" Avalon taunted, which caused Abolithon to laugh.

"You think I hadn't thought of such a thing, now a spy in Alfea is so interesting, but you are right, Erasiel would know the real Avalon what with all those memories of adventures but I have something that will allow my spy to assume your identity and know everything about your life, even your own secrets you hide" Abolithon noted and drew a gyroscope which was made of gold and studded with jewels and runes. "Behold the Sphere of Arhokartar; it allows me to copy the memories of someone and transfer them into someone else; for this mission I require someone who has centuries of experience in the art of subterfuge, as well as the arts of war; General Seraloth; assume the guise of Professor Avalon" Abolithon explained, Seraloth the burgundy haired phoenix strode forward and assumed the guise of Avalon, two faceless took his weapons and arms and flew off.

"Yes, my lord, now what?" Seraloth asked.

"Observe; Atrak Verdan Wroth!" Abolithon casted, the gyroscope spun rapidly and glowed bright pink, a lance of pink Energy hit Avalon who yelled in agony as it surged thru him, the light turned green and was absorbed back into the sphere. "Now hold still Seraloth" Abolithon instructed "Atrak Metios Caof!" Abolithon casted sending a green lance of energy into Seraloth. "Now Seraloth tell me everything about Professor Avalon" Abolithon ordered.

"I am Avalon Brightstone, son of Irizrak and Amarta Brightstone, brother to Avreni, Kalda, Varezek and Aoro; I am a cousin of Erasiel Darkar on his mother's side and am a paladin, I have studied the arts of light magic for millennia, I am a member of the Wizard's Council, fought in 9 of the 17 Phoenix Wars, I taught at the Graynor Magic academy and battled in the Sacking of Graynor in which I died on 7th incarnation, I am currently on my 8th incarnation and have maintained my skills since, 60 years ago I served as a teacher at the prestigious Malagoy Paladin Academy until 17 years ago when it was destroyed by: and I mean to tout my achievements in my true identity: Warlord Seraloth and his army of Shadowloth, since then I have been searching out magical artifacts and for those lost records from the Sacking of Graynor; I despise Lighthaveners and abominations, my hobbies include: poetry, dancing, writing calligraphy, painting exotic portraits, banging elf maids; as well as a number of other hobbies, other than that I love my family, take good care of my children and take pride in my accomplishments. See now I know everything about you Professor Avalon, as well as remembering your memories; also, I have your powers" Seraloth responded with Avalon's voice.

"Excellent Seraloth, now you will rest here and assume the guise of Professor Avalon, you will act as my deep-cover agent, when the most important phase of my plan is ready you will act, until then we will keep in touch remotely and at night; physically no Faceless messengers; assume your duties, your second in command will take the role of General in your absence" Abolithon explained.

"As you command Lord Abolithon" Seraloth responded, soon Abolithon left with his captive and his children; his sons: Abanoth, Retarnos, and Decabolus; nicknamed Ambition, Retribution, sometimes called Vengeance, and Deception, and his twin daughters: Rianath and Viridia, leaving Seraloth alone, or Avalon as I will be referring to him as from this point.

The following morning; a new day dawned and Erasiel entered Alfea from the road singing. "The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began, now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow if I can. Pursuing it with eager feat until it joins some larger way where many paths and errands meet and wither then I cannot say. Roads go ever, ever on and on, over rock and under tree, by caves sun has never shone, by streams that never find the sea. Over snow by winter sown, and thru merry flowers of June, over grass and over stone, under mountains in the moon. Roads go ever, ever on, under cloud and under star and feet wandering have gone turn at last to home afar; eyes that fire and sword hath seen, and horrors in the halls of stone; look at last on meadows and trees and hills they've always known. The road goes ever on and on out from the door it began, now far ahead that road has gone, let others follow it who can. Let them a journey new begin, but I at last with weary feet, turn towards the lighted Inn my evening rest and sleep to meet. The road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began" Erasiel sung as he strode into Alfea's courtyard clad in his instructors garb, where Bloom was waiting for him.

"You're late" Bloom remarked.

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to" Erasiel remarked, Bloom laughed and hugged him.

"You know I never thought that I would ever meet a real wizard, much less a phoenix wizard, much less a Phoenix who is fan of Lord of the Rings" Bloom remarked.

"Well good books are always for reading, now am I actually late" Erasiel asked.

"Not really, I just was teasing you, we actually have 10 minutes before class starts, I was just here wondering when you'd show up" Bloom answered.

"Well I'm here now, and I'm rocking like a hurricane; no wait that's Stormy who rocks like a hurricane; or rather rocks you when you don't wake up when you are supposed to; actually, more like zaps you with a mild electrical shock" Erasiel commented.

"Well I see you are here now, by the way something crazy happened, there's this crazy Black Monolith that everyone can see, and people are puzzled on what it is" Bloom gossiped as they walked inside.

"A Black monolith; well as long as it isn't summoning undead hordes I'm sure its harmless, most likely that is; for all I know it might actually be summoning undead hordes" Erasiel quipped.

"Well whatever it is I don't like it, the whole thing appeared overnight and its bizarre" Bloom replied.

"Well whatever it is it will soon be dealt with" Erasiel stated, when booming loudspeaker shouted.

"Attention students, all students are required to head to the courtyard, a new class will be starting today, it will happen during second period normally apart from this first lesson, Deputy Headmistress Griselda will be teaching" Faragonda shouted over the loudspeaker.

"A class with Griselda that sounds terrible" Bloom stated to Erasiel.

"Don't worry I'll be there with you, I'm supposed to be the assistant teacher for every class don't worry I'll keep her in line" Erasiel replied.

"You'll do that for us?" Bloom asked.

"Please Bloom, I'll take any opportunity I can to snipe at my daughter, she is so uptight it isn't even funny how she managed to become so is also beyond me; let's just say I have somethings planned, I knew about the lesson in advance to I've had time to think of some things to spice it up" Erasiel commented with a wink, which caused Bloom to smile, shortly they met up with the other Winx.

"Hey Nathan" Flora greeted and gave Erasiel a hug.

"Hey Flora, you are looking beautiful as ever" Erasiel replied and kissed her on the cheek, he did the same with Musa, Diaspro and Tecna, the Ayesha kissed him on the cheek.

"That's for saving my life, you and I need to stick together like glue my new boyfriend; also, I've been accepted into the Winx and now am in their dorm" Ayesha explained.

"Gladly Ayesha" Erasiel stated, then he noted a girl he recognized and wasn't introduced to.

"Hello" Erasiel greeted Francis.

"Oh, pardon me, sorry I don't think we've been introduced; my name is Francis, I'm the newest member of the Winx, well until my roommate Ayesha joined up, I'm the fairy of Laughter and Celestial magic" Francis introduced.

"Nice to meet you Francis" Erasiel stated.

Later…. The students had gathered in the Courtyard; the pixies had as well, Griselda stood in the center of the group. "Students today is the first class of Magic-Philosophy class, in this class you will learn how to use magic spells and learn how and why they are used and as well as the ethics of using spells; but first I will need to test each the abilities of everyone present are we clear" Griselda explained.

"Pretty much, you won't need me I'll just watch the show" Erasiel stated, then conjured up a floating chair changed into a Hawaiian shirt and black shorts and sat down on the chair; Zing and Livy hovered by him and he conjured up chairs for them as they assumed human form Kerborg brought Erasiel a large bucket of popcorn and a large drink of Root bear. "Popcorn Livy?" Erasiel asked.

"Yes, and a soda too" Livy replied.

"Hey, I'll have some too!" Zing exclaimed, having turned her regular googles into 3D glasses.

"One large popcorn for both of my Pixie friends" Erasiel ordered Kerborg. "What do you two want to drink?" Erasiel stated.

"Mountain Dew" Zing answered.

"Pepsi" Livy commented.

"Father this is highly irregular" Griselda lectured.

"Shut up Sun-Sung; I mean shut up Griselda!" Erasiel yelled back.

"Sun-Sung?" Musa pondered.

"Don't worry Musa, no idea where that came from" Erasiel noted, then started eating popcorn.

"First off everyone into your Charmix" Griselda instructed, and all the students did so. "Now for this gage of your power each of you will take turns attacking me with your strongest spell in an attempt to break this barrier" Griselda explained, and large green barrier appeared around her.

"Ahisa you are up first" Griselda explained.

Ahisa was a fair dark-skinned girl with dark colored eyes and pale colored lipstick/lip-gloss worn. Her hair was dark blue, appearing almost black with neatly brushed bangs and short, shoulder length bits of hair in front of her ears, possibly worn with small scrunchies or rubber bands. Her hair was worn in a low worn ponytail held with a pale pink scrunchy, along with a pink headband, her figure was athletically slender but generously endowed more so then the other girls around her though the class over all had plenty women who were blessed in that department. She wore a pink sparkly dress with a segment of light blue like a tank top, with lining reaches to the top makes it look like an upside-down heart. Her headband had a small green heart and another resembling one around her neck and the skirt on her dress looks like a flower. Her wings were green. "Ahisa Fairy of Love! Passionate wave!" Ahisa casted sending a wave of pink energy at Griselda who blocked it with a green bubble of magic.

"Next Anastasia" Griselda stated.

"Shadow bolts!" Anastasia casted, sending dark bolts at Griselda leaving her barrier unscathed.

"Excellent, next Amaryl!" Griselda ordered, Amaryl was annoyed.

"Star blast!" Amaryl casted, send a surge of energy at Griselda, who once again blocked it.

"Is this all you have, you aren't going to pass at all if you can't even dent my field" Griselda mocked, Erasiel then hovered over Bloom.

"Psst Bloom" Erasiel whispered.

"What Nathan?" Bloom whispered back.

"I think Griselda could use some humbling; cast Flame Storm on her that should humble her" Erasiel whispered, Bloom smiled at the idea he also gave a similar suggestion to Stella and Mirta.

"What are you doing father!?" Griselda noted.

"Nothing, minding my own business that's all!" Erasiel retorted.

"And before you say anything else remember I'm the head of Wizard's Council so that means I'm technically your boss" Erasiel reminded.

"Never mind, Arabel you are up next" Griselda remarked.

"Energy wave!" Arabel casted actually denting Griselda's barrier.

"That's good, keep up this effort" Griselda stated. "Ayesha you're next, show them what you've learned from Andros's college" Griselda stated, Ayesha lifted off.

"Morphix Blast!" Ayesha casted sending a barrage of pink plasma at Griselda's barrier leaving cracks in it.

"Bloom you're up next" Griselda stated, she smirked. "Maybe now I'll humble the hero of Alfea" Griselda thought, Bloom flew up.

"Flame Storm!" Bloom casted and barrage of fireballs struck Griselda's barrier and shattered it, the impact force caused Griselda to be knocked off her feet.

"Bloom that was an advanced level spell where in Asha's name did you- FATHER!" Griselda stated Erasiel and his Pixies burst out laughing and he was followed by the rest of Class.

"Ha! HA! HA! Now there's a case of pride going before the fall or in this case before getting hit by a barrage of fireballs, anyway don't worry I got it out of my system" Erasiel remarked, with Griselda glaring at him. "Anyway next!" Erasiel stated, thus continued the faeries as expected until his next joke came up.

"Mirta your turn" Griselda explained. "Now let's see if I she's as good as my mother was at her age" Griselda thought, readying her barrier. Mirta rose up in her Charmix form, the first time the Winx had seen it in a new year; She wore a pink mini tank top with dark blue straps and a matching skirt. She also wears dark blue sparkly gloves, knee-high, light teal boots with pink heels. Around her neck and on her skirt, she wore a grey diamond-shaped pendant. Her wings resemble a butterfly's and were moderately larger than most of the other Charmix Faeries.

"Powers of Darkness invoke: Mournwave!" Mirta casted, send a shadowy wave with a maw of gapping teeth and crimson tendrils and red eyes above at Griselda, this shattered the barrier and sent Griselda flying into the courtyard wall. "I guess I don't know my own strength" Mirta remarked to everyone's laughter, Griselda picked herself off the ground and swore under her breath in the language of Phoenixes.

"I heard that young lady!" Erasiel remarked, causing Griselda to grin insanely and glare holes into him.

"YOU DID THAT!" Griselda remarked.

"Me I did nothing, been here the whole-time right Livy?" Erasiel responded.

"Yep Erasiel hasn't left us for a second" Livy chimed in.

"Not even remotely" Zing stated.

"See they vouch for me" Erasiel stated. "Next Miky!" Erasiel noted, a curly black-haired fairy with tan brown skin dress in an orange sparkled dress stepped up.

"Ray of Shanat!" Miky casted, sending a blast of blue green energy at Griselda who barely managed to put up her barrier to stop it.

"I wasn't ready, nice that you managed to catch me off guard though Miky" Griselda remarked.

"Bonus points!" Erasiel remarked.

"Shut up!" Griselda shouted.

"Make me!" Erasiel challenged Griselda sneered at him, then recovered her composure.

"Anyway, next Oleana!" Griselda stated.

"That's Countess Oleana of Tenesa to you Griselda!" Oleana stated in her exotic voice; Oleana had long and wavy chestnut-brown hair with a few lighter-colored strands, a light skin tone, and brown eyes. She wore a midriff-length sparkly dark green turtleneck shirt with a yellow star on it which left her navel bare, sparkly red pants, and dark green boots. She wears a green visor with a yellow crown shape on it. She also wears gold-ring bracelets. Her wings are light green and covered upwards. "Now behold commoner the wrath Countess Oleana: Blade shards of Ramukh!" Oleana casted, this time Griselda was overwhelmed rather suddenly a barrage of red blades that shattered her barrier and threw her a solid 50 feet out the school gate and into grass patch.

"Alright that better not have been your doing Father!" Griselda stated.

"No doing of his, you just can't withstand the might of Countess Oleana of Tenesa, Fairy of battle magic and of Heaven's Wrath!" Oleana remarked.

"Ergh! Next Ortensia!" Griselda screamed irately she brought up her barrier. Ortensia stepped forward calmly, Ortensia had square-framed glasses with blue lenses worn over her sea blue eyes and very long dark blue-black hair that was about waist-length, if not a bit shorter, her skin was Asian cast much like Musa's as she was from Melody, she wore a sparkly pink muffin-top hat, and also a sparkling pink tank-top and skirt, along with slightly darker shorts and below the knee fuchsia boots.

"Rapid Cascade!" Ortensia casted sending a cascading wave of water that broken on the rock of Griselda's barrier, however it did make a crack large enough to shatter the barrier causing Griselda to get soaked.

"Ok I'm upping my barrier, let's see if anyone else can break it!" Griselda challenged. "Priscilla you are next!" Griselda stated.

Priscilla walked up, shy and worried as usual, Priscilla had pink-toned skin with dark brown eyes and a maroon A-line bob haircut. Her Charmix form consisted of dark green bikini top with a jagged collar. She also wears a matching colored skirt with a jagged bottom and a yellow green pendent at the top. She also wears calf high dark green boots and a lighter green finger-less gloves. Her wings are shaped like leaves, which are light green with yellow rims. "Gnarled roots and Branches!" Priscilla casted and a large green tree materialized and smashed down on Griselda's barrier repeatedly with its branches and roots, this abuse shattered Griselda's barrier causing Griselda to be knocked down flat and be stunned. A cheer went up from Priscilla's two best friends Katy and Luna who had failed to break Griselda's barrier previously.

"Again, next student and this time I'm ignoring the traditional alphabetical naming with regards to this one student: STELLA!" Griselda yelled.

"I've got this one right in the bag" Stella stated sure of herself.

"You think you do, your grades in other classes say otherwise" Griselda remarked raising her barrier.

"It's a new year Griselda and I didn't do bad at all last year; Shem's burning gaze!" Stella responded, casting the spell and several balls of light left Stella's hand crashing into Griselda, shattering the barrier and sending her flying thru the gate and into a thorn bush followed by a large mud puddle, this caused everyone to laugh. "I told you I had it in the bag" Stella touted.

"Alright, no more, the rest of you pass, but this was only a warm up now comes the real lesson, follow me" Griselda explained, then the students followed her, Erasiel floating above the gathering with Zing and Livy on his chair, they arrived at Lake Teransia where the black monolith towered over the lake.

"This monolith appeared last night, it is impervious to various magical attacks" Erasiel explained, having put it up himself. "Griselda if you would be so kind demonstrate for the students; use your best attacks and see if you can do damage.

"Far too simple" Griselda arrogantly stated, then she stepped forward turned into Phoenix form. "Asha's Lance!" Griselda casted, send a massive green lance at the monolith, the lance hit but did no damage. "That's odd: Burning head!" Griselda casted sending a flaming screaming giant skull at monolith, once again no damage and not even a scorch mark. "Alright you are going down: Inverna Ratios Habas!" Griselda casted sending a surge of energy at the monolith which emerged unscathed, causing Griselda to pant.

"See everyone, impervious to magic as I said" Erasiel explained, Griselda then threw another spell at the monolith only this one rebounded at her and caused her to fly into a thorn bush, as Griselda got out of said thorn bush she spilt her skirt exposing her underpants to the laughter of everyone else, she casted a repair spell.

"Alright then if you are going to stand there and laugh at me I would like to see you all try and damage that thing" Griselda stated.

"Well you heard her ladies, give it your all, don't worry you won't fail the lesson if you don't do any damage to the monolith, as I said it is impervious to magic" Erasiel remarked, then each of the faeries toke off into the air and began to barrage the monolith with aggressive spells to no effect, however they did employ different strategies, some actually unified their attacks and hit the Monolith at the same time, as they did so they were unaware of Faragonda and a mysterious figure approaching.

"Alright ladies it's enough, you'll exhaust yourselves if you keep it up, besides there is someone I want you all to meet" Erasiel instructed and everyone stopped worn out and landed.

"Students I have someone for you all to meet, also I have news there will be no classes tomorrow as we have all been invited to attend the grand reopening of Red Fountain, anyway you all are probably wondering where that monolith came from, well I won't hold you in suspense at all, I was the one who put it there and Erasiel reinforced it so that you wouldn't be able to damage it, the purpose of this monolith was a lesson in humility; that you all know your current limits and have open mind that you have much more to learn" Faragonda explained. "Now our guest will see to the Monolith, as it is becoming an eyesore over Lake Teransia wouldn't you agree Erasiel" Faragonda stated.

"Yep, now I'll watch the fireworks, take it away my cousin" Erasiel remarked, and the cloaked figure stepped up.

"Lapus Sturei'et Feer'mai Tetfrangan Mit Cominuim" the figure casted and clapped his hands forming a large gold sphere which he flung at the monolith, the monolith cracked and then shattered, the fragments faded out of existence, the figure threw off his cloak, revealing an indigo haired man wearing a white blazer over a light blue turtleneck with chained cuffs, white boot-cut dress pants, out of which a golden feathered tail flowed out, and suede bucks. He accessories with a red diamond shaped necklace and a yellow diamond-shaped ring on his right-hand's ring finger. With a gesture from his hand he summoned a staff of similar design to Erasiel's, but this was topped by a sun rather than a dragon. "Greetings students I am your new teacher, I am Professor Avalon Brightstone; Light Phoenix and a grandmaster Paladin, member of the Wizard's Council and former teacher at the Malagoy Paladin academy before its destruction during the War of the Ancestresses; no doubt you are all familiar with my cousin, Erasiel Darkar, he will be my assistant teacher though on occasion I will defer to his opinion as he has been teaching far longer than I have; but know that I'm the new teacher for this class, Griselda has been filling in, Faragonda and I wanted this whole thing to be a surprise as such now I will be teaching the class" Avalon introduced.

"Wow he's so impressive" a few students chimed from the audience.

"Anyway, Class I do believe that this is enough for the day, let's go back to Alfea, I have some things to collect from my camp and then I will join you" Avalon stated.

Back to Present… "And that is a story of how everyone met Professor Avalon, he will be a great teacher here and that is our show; thank you everybody" Livy explained, and the crowd dispersed except Kiko who deposited cut out figures of the Winx and pixies, with Bloom's and Erasiel's being the last to fall.

"There you are Kiko, I've been looking all over for you" Bloom stated and picked him up and hugged him. "Come on let's get you some carrot juice" Bloom stated.


	32. Arc 2 Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Party crashers and the Codex

In Shadowhaunt Abolithon sat on the Shadow Throne of Darkar and yawned. "My sons today comes your first mission, the information we've been able to extract from our captive has proven useful, the time has come to implement our plan, we have found the Relix Codex, and it is currently in the ruins of Old Red Fountain, thus the time has come for a mission, I have it on good authority the Codex is well guarded and thus we will need a distraction, the New Red Fountain opens today, as such we will have the opportunity to have such a distraction; my sons I am tasking you with retrieving the Codex" Abolithon explained.

"What about the diversion, who will handle that" Deception asked.

"I have already thought that thru: Grackthroat!" Abolithon stated and a Faceless clad in red armor flew into the room.

"What is your command Lord Abolithon?" Grackthroat asked, holding in his hand a halberd with the free arm held over his heart as he knelt.

"You are to serve as a diversionary attack, we will wait until reopening party is underway, then when it is in full swing you will attack in the form of a terrifying beast, you are to cause as much chaos as possible, while your attack is underway my sons will enter the underground of Old Red Fountain and acquire the Codex, it is guarded rather well but nothing you three won't be able to handle; I have high hopes for you my sons you proved yourself well in the taking of Shadowhaunt now I want to see what you three can do, bring the me the Codex; anything else is secondary, as soon as you have it you leave and return to Shadowhaunt" Abolithon ordered.

"Yes, father it shall be done" All three Phoenixes stated, they put down their visors which concealed their handsome faces each of which was alike to each other with the only difference being in eye color and hair color.

"Excellent" Abolithon stated then began to laugh.

At Alfea… "Well Bloom are you ready?" Erasiel stated knocking on the door dressed in his normal clothes. "Because I really need to use the Bathroom!" Erasiel remarked.

"Almost, just need to put my mother's bracelet on, there now I'm done" Bloom stated and she walked out in different outfit then Erasiel had seen before, Bloom wore a light blue and white collared short-sleeve midriff/crop top with four dark pink hearts on the right side over a long sleeved shirt which left her navel bare, a short layered dark denim skirt, really long light blue knee socks, dark blue high heels with dark pink laces, and a dark pink band which is (measuring from the bottom of her arm) three quarters up her arm. "How do I look?" Bloom asked.

"Like a million bucks, now I really need to use the Bathroom" Erasiel stated then rushed past her into the Bathroom and locked it.

Musa walked up to Bloom. "I Like your new outfit, I'm glad the reopening isn't formal dance, I left my best dress and home and it hasn't arrived in the mail" Musa remarked, she was wearing a short, dark blue kimono with silver trim, a pink, wrap belt, a pair of light pink tights, a pair of lace-up, navy blue sandals, and a silver headband.

"Well I'm glad it least it will be a party with refreshments, also I'm glad they invited the Cloud Tower students, last thing we need is them to crash the party" Bloom replied.

"They can't crash the party if they're invited that's for sure; anyway, I hope the new Red Fountain is as awesome as they are claiming" Musa remarked.

"It should be amazing after all Nathan said he would have it rebuilt state of the art" Bloom replied.

"You know if it wasn't for the whole Downland incident a few days ago I wouldn't have bought his whole stich about having more wealth then he knows what to do with, but then again I should have realized he was telling the truth with all the expensive gifts he's been giving me on our dates and giving them to Flora and Tecna as well" Musa noted.

"You know I never doubted he was rich, I mean have you seen his staff, anyone with a staff that exotic has got to have a lot of dough" Bloom stated, Musa laughed; she had gotten used to Earth slang by this point. "You know Musa things are getting pricy around here, I think I'll get an after-school job to make up for the extra costs" Bloom explained.

"Why not ask Nathan to give you money?" Musa jested.

"Well he's done so much for me already, besides my godmother Vanessa always told me nothing in this world is given to you for free you always have to work for it, especially when it comes to money" Bloom explained.

"Relax Bloom I was only kidding" Musa replied, and the door opened and Erasiel came into the room.

"Ah, that is much better, wouldn't advise going in there for a while, anyway what's all this talk about money?" Erasiel greeted.

"Nothing to worry about, I'm just going to get a side job, know anyone who might be hiring?" Bloom replied.

"Nope, not around here, been too busy thinking about what Abolithon could possibly want with Pixies, on top of that I have my mother's birthday to think about, it's this Friday and I don't intend to disappoint her with less than amazing gift" Erasiel answered.

"That sucks; anyone you know I could ask Musa?" Bloom asked.

"Well ask one of the local girls around here they'll probably know about anyone who's hiring" Musa stated.

"Your right, I'll go ask Francis, she's from Magix City maybe she knows someone who's hiring" Bloom stated and left to find Francis. Musa then frowned and looked bleak.

"What's wrong Musa" Erasiel asked.

"It's that day Nathan" Musa responded.

"Oh, the day Matlin died, your right, I remember that, I was there for her funeral if you remember me" Erasiel stated.

"I don't actually" Musa replied.

"That's alright, you were only two at the time, and you spent most of the funeral asking why they were burying mommy" Erasiel replied, which caused Musa to break down in tears, Erasiel hugged her and held her as she cried into his shoulder. Ayesha walked into the room; she was wearing a two-piece navy blue outfit, a midriff turtleneck tank top and a mini-skirt, both were decorated with silver beads, navy blue leg-warmers, and blue sandals. On her arms she wore navy blue, zebra-striped gloves.

"What's wrong Musa, Nathan did you have anything to do with this?" Ayesha asked.

"Nothing Ayesha, it's just a sad day for Musa, this day was very sad for her years ago" Erasiel commented.

"What happened today?" Ayesha asked.

"Today was the day her mother Matlin died" Erasiel answered.

"I understand" Ayesha noted and pated Musa on the shoulder.

"Anyway, we should get going, everyone else is ready to go and Stella will have a hissy if we don't get there on time" Ayesha explained, Musa recovered her composure.

"Alright then let's get going" Erasiel stated and held Musa's hand as they left the room to find Bloom and Francis waiting for them, Francis wore a teal tank-top over a rainbow sweater, in addition to a red skirt over shorts with red lace stockings and stilettos.

"Come on Nathan it's time to go by the way Francis told me about a job opening" Bloom explained.

"Yes, I told her about the White Horse my boss Greta said she is looking for a new person to help around the restaurant" Francis commented.

"That's good, I'll have to drop by some time, do they serve Chicken and French Fries" Erasiel asked.

"Yep" Francis remarked. "Alright lets go, come on Ayesha you're with me" Francis stated.

"You know it party girl" Ayesha remarked, the two of them were becoming fast friends what with sharing a room.

They left the Winx Dorm and proceeded to a crowd where they found Flora, Stella, Tecna, and Diaspro waiting for them along with the Pixies. "Well guess who finally showed up" Stella teased.

"Please Stella we weren't even remotely late, the transports to Red Fountain don't leave for another ten minutes" Erasiel commented.

"He is correct, though it's actually nine minutes and 27 seconds now" Tecna replied logically.

"We don't need to get technical here Tecna, no offense" Musa remarked.

"Hey Nathan, what do you think of my outfit" Diaspro asked, she wore an outfit that consisted of orange top with white hearts in the right corner and a strap on her left shoulder, off-the-shoulder sleeve on her right arm, and an orange bow on the strap. She also sported an orange sleeveless midriff top with white buttons over the orange top and a red ruffled mini-skirt. She accessorizes with two gold necklaces studded with jasper, two orange bangles, and orange over-the-knee socks. Her shoes were red high-heeled boots with orange heels and orange ribbons wrapped around her leg and tying onto the back of her hamstring. Her curly blonde hair was smoothed out and her bangs were parted mostly to the right and cheek length, but the other side was pulled behind her left ear with a short piece hanging down and was decorated with a gold jasper studded barrette on the right side of her head, she also wore her silver tiara.

"You look like an Eraklyion Angel" Erasiel commented.

"Thanks Nathan" Diaspro remarked given him a hug and planted a kiss on his lips, the chatter went on until it was time to leave.

"Students form up into five groups, Headmistress Faragonda will address us now, Professor Gelt will be in charge of supervising the first group, with the other professors following suit" Griselda instructed, Erasiel and the Winx found themselves in the first group much to Stella's annoyance as Professor Gelt kept an eye on her, despite her good grades last year he still was suspicious when it came to her, blowing up the Alchemy class two years ago would do that to you.

"Students, no doubt you are all aware of the Battle for Magix that happened last year and the unfortunate destruction of Red Fountain College by the Lighthaveners, since then the college has been rebuilt and the destruction that happened last year won't be repeated. In light of that a celebration party is being held for the grand reopening of Red Fountain, with said party however will come some rules; Rule number one. No fighting with the Specialists or with the Witches of Cloud Tower. Rule Number two, listen to the Teachers. Rule Number Three. Do not enter the ruins of the old school, there is still rubble. Rule Number four, don't listen to Griselda, Rule number five. Have fun" Faragonda instructed, people laughed and grinned about rule number four. "Now everyone please head to the transports in a dignified and orderly manner as well as in order, Professor Gelt your group is first" Faragonda instructed, group one marched out the gate, and got onto the transport which the inside of which resembled a school bus to a degree however there was more room to move about the every seat had a seat belt, Erasiel sat down in on the chairs and Flora sat down next to him, while Zing Livy and Chatta hovered above them.

"So, Nathan Flora can't stop talking about you when she sleeps" Chatta remarked.

"Chatta! That's private" Flora replied.

"Don't worry I have that effect on people sometimes, don't worry Flora it shouldn't be a problem, Chatta refrain from talking about Flora's private life in the future" Erasiel instructed, and Chatta nodded.

"So, what do you think of Professor Gelt, he gives me the creeps with that mask of his, also his voice is creepy" Chatta stated.

"Professor Gelt is a great wizard, one of the finest Gold Wizards I've ever met, the man is good at what he does, as for his mask, well I don't tend to ask questions about it, he did tell me though it was a biproduct of a failed Alchemy experiment though" Erasiel replied.

"He's also an amazing teacher and really supports those who want to learn Alchemy from him, he also is willing to let people try and make up for failed assignments" Flora added.

"Well he still gives me the creeps, so is that mask of his something he wears to hide his face or is it his face?" Chatta remarked.

"I don't know, he never answered that question other than to remark which one do your think, personally I'm in the camp of not asking, besides it makes him look serious, there aren't many people who wouldn't take him seriously and those few who didn't well they were mostly Morden and now they are solid gold skulls adorning his office, also he has one on his desk in his class in case you haven't noticed" Erasiel stated.

"Oh that, I always thought it was something interesting, I had no idea though it was a Mordan though, but I should have guessed by the teeth" Flora commented, the Transport took off, followed by the others, they then flew to Red Fountain and landed in port of the School alongside transports from Cloud Tower, where Witches had already gotten off. As they left the ship Erasiel noted the Trix, they looked surprisingly different than usual, Icy's hair was down and it flowed all the way to the back of her knees, all the way, Darcy had her hair in the same style of Pony-tail that Icy usually wore, and Stormy well her hair was straightened and flowed past her shoulders. Icy wore a silver winter jacket with a dark blue bottom hem that stops just short of her belly button, blue jeans with silver-lined pockets and grey high-tops. While Darcy wore a purple long-sleeved blazer with high shoulders that exposed her midriff, a matching purple miniskirt, and greyish-blue leather boots as well silky fingerless gloves that were lavender in color were worn over her hands as she carried a greyish-blue clutch purse. Stormy wore a light blue, long-sleeved sweater with a red collar, bottom hem and cuffs, a dark blue miniskirt, red knee-high socks, and brown shoes with grey soles. Trixie still wore her hair the same though she wore a dark elven outfit which was green in color.

All the students fell in line and moved towards the courtyard, where numerous specialists gathered, as well as a few news reporters with drone cameras following them, in the courtyard was a large screen which showed the outside of the school, something the Winx couldn't understand, Erasiel knew full well what is was for though. Above the courtyard the Teachers of Red Fountain stood in a Balcony alongside Saladin who wore his usual attire. "Excellent everyone is here, the time has come for the Grand reopening of Red Fountain College for Specialists, Wizards, Battle Mages, and Sorceresses, everyone ready themselves as we watch the screen to show off the grand reopening" Saladin announced, the ground shook, a shield was projected and the sound of engines roared to life as the school ascended into the sky, about 300 feet in the air, the School outstretched fins and began to slowly rotate. "As you can see the new Red Fountain is state of the art and will be unassailable by any land army, it offered new state of the art systems and a larger amphitheater for the exhibitions, as well as state of art zoos and quarters for the school's Dragons and other creatures, in addition to this our library has been expanded, and each classroom is now larger than before, we have more extensive dormitories and campus security is the most elite it has ever been, our new courses are state of the art and we will be expanding our training program, more Wizards, Battle Mages, and Sorceresses have joined our students and will now be equivalent to our specialists in terms of numbers, speaking of new students I have a someone I would like to introduce to you all, the newest instructor and returning student my daughter Helia" Saladin explained, with that a graceful well-endowed athletically fit woman strode forward, she had long black hair and blue eyes, she wore a full armored suit that was dark blue over which was surcoat which had the school's insignia, that of a crimson Dragon rider battling another dragon rider with a series of vines wrapped about the scene, she also sported a blue cape, she had a khilij style hilt on her side which was an inactive phanto-blade on her wrist she wore a strange band which stood out from the rest of her outfit. "My daughter has returned after a year's absence in the study of the arts, now she will instruct here at Red Fountain alongside her older sister Kordatura" Saladin explained. Helia nodded.

"Now that I have cleared up all the new things coming to Red Fountain let the celebration commence in earnest!" Saladin exclaimed, and the music began.

Ayesha and Musa stood next each other in earnest discussion when Darcy walked up. "Hey Darcy, What with the new look?" Musa asked.

"I just thought I'd spice things up a little bit, the new outfit is something I've been meaning to wear for some time in my opinion it's the most fashionable outfit I've worn in some time, new outfit by the way a gift from Nathan, as for my hair, well if Icy is going to let hers down well I thought I might try her look" Darcy remarked.

"I never took you for being so fashion savvy Darcy" Musa remarked.

"Please I know I've got better tastes then Stella; trust me true fashion is the stuff that highlights the rest of your look, it takes a good deal of proper preparation" Darcy explained.

"Well maybe you should give Stella some tips" Ayesha remarked.

"Please, she wouldn't believe me if I told her she wasn't truly fashion savvy enough, also there is the whole thing that we use opposing magics, so I'd prefer not to stretch our friendship to the limits" Darcy replied.

While they were having this conversation Erasiel was of course mingling, Riven and Artesia immediately came and hugged him on first sight and then clung to his arms in the meantime, Erasiel walked up to Helia. "Hey" Erasiel greeted.

"Hey, never seen you before, you new here?" Helia replied.

"Nope, don't go to Red Fountain, I'm a tutor who goes back and forth between Alfea and Cloud Tower tutoring students with my established track record as a teacher" Erasiel explained. "Speaking of I just got hired as a Teacher's assistant for all the Professors at Alfea" Erasiel continued.

"You're Erasiel Darkar, aren't you, my father told me you two were good friends and Kordatura, well she can't stop talking about you" Helia replied.

"That would be me, Kordatura of course she can't stop talking about me, I'm the only person who brings out her soft and caring side, well apart from our kids, so I've not seen you around before, Saladin didn't mention he'd had another daughter in my absence" Erasiel commented.

"Trust me my father is has more time on his hands then you think, just ask my mother" Helia stated.

"Ah yes, Erinaya Essentar one of the marvelous 20 daughters of Tieru Essentar and Arcadia the first Fairy, I remember playing matchmaker for your father and mother when they were both students of mine; interesting things have happened" Erasiel stated.

"I know, well if you're ever free, I'm single, Kordatura says you're the most handsome man and the best man in the Magic Dimension, she was right about the handsome part and I'm up to see if my sister was right" Helia remarked,

"Glad you could say so, let's dance" Erasiel noted, the music played louder and soon Erasiel had dominated the dancing scene, the lovely girls and ladies from all three schools danced with him.

Shortly… "So, Nathan what do you think of my hair" Stormy asked.

"I think it looks lovely, I've never seen you with it down before and well I am impressed" Erasiel noted.

"You haven't seen me with it down either Nathan" Icy stated, Erasiel was dancing with the two of them.

"And I've never seen you in that lovely outfit" Erasiel remarked.

"You're too kind" Icy remarked, then scanned the crowd for a face she did not want to see. "Great it's Sky why is that scumbag still attending Red Fountain" Icy commented.

"No idea; Stormy feel free to tell the new ladies around here about his scumbag status, and if he tries anything feel free to kick his ass" Erasiel remarked, Stormy went towards Sky and stared him down with an angry glare.

"Hey Air-pollution, let's get things straight, try anything with any of the girls here, I'll personally kick your ass all the way back to Eraklyion, by the way I still haven't paid you back for what you did to my sister!" Stormy remarked and proceeded to fling him across the room, he came back at her with his fists raise and Stormy dodged his blows and kicked him in the groin. "There that was from my sister, try to break anyone else's heart and I'll give you a lightning bolt where it will really hurt; to your junk!" Stormy stated.

"My father will hear about this" Sky protested a large crowd had gathered around them.

"Yeah like I'm afraid of him, I'm not and just because your some royal princeling doesn't mean you get to take advantage of girls and ladies and break their heart, personally I hope you get married then when you get your wife mad at you that she'll cut your wiener off one night, and then you'll wake up the next morning and question why Mr. Happy is gone; get bent and stay the fuck away from any of the new girls" Stormy stated, with a number of ladies shooting razor glares at Sky.

Brandon came up and helped Sky to his feet. "You know she's right" Brandon remarked.

"Ugh one of these day's you'll pay for that witch!" Sky stated and stormed off, Stormy hit him with a minor shock spell. "YEOGH!" Sky screamed. Bloom had walked up to Stormy.

"What did I say Sky?!" Stormy yelled and Sky ran off. "What an asshole, I hope he gives me a reason to maim him further" Stormy stated to Bloom.

"I agree with you on that Stormy, personally I hope this will make him know that he shouldn't break anyone's heart" Bloom replied.

"Next time he causes trouble you want in on the fun?" Stormy asked.

"Yes, but keep magic out of it, the last time I tried to use magic on him it started a war, I'd prefer to not start another one" Bloom explained and Stormy chuckled.

"I guess you can say that, though personally I'd love to kick some ass of anyone who starts a war with you Bloom" Stormy stated and they both laughed

Unaware to those partying a group had just arrived out of sight of any but in sight of the school.

"Well the time has come Grackthroat for you to do your part in the plan" Ambition stated.

"Yes, try not to mess it up" Retribution remarked.

"Shut up Retribution!" Deception stated.

"Please you two we have a serious mission this is no time for you two to act like hatchlings" Ambition stated.

"Shut up Ambition!" they both said, before he wacked both of them upside the head.

"Remember who's in charge of this mission" Grackthroat stated.

"Yes indeed, now let us begin" Ambition stated, "Assume the form of great monstrosity that no one in their right mind would ignore and most people would be terrified of" Ambition ordered and Grackthroat dawned the form of a Leodragus a true monstrosity: it was bipedal and extremely large in this form, large enough to almost reach the ceiling of Lord Darkar's throne room. its skin was shinny and grey just in a lighter shade, it had large bat like wings that were pink in the inner flaps. the head almost looks like a lion's mane, except it was purple, smooth and has a lower part that is furry, the eyes were gold with no pupils. It had a canine-like mouth, the hands are both replaced with maws of sharp teeth and eyes above that as well a long tail that has a snake head at the end of it.

Grackthroat let out a bestial roar and charged towards the school, Ambition and his brothers landed in a forest near the ruins of the old school, there were a few guards standing vigil over what was clearly an important part of the school. "Inferonost!" Ambition casted and black flames emerged from his palms frying the guards to ashes bar on who was terrified by the black armored figures with duel axes on either side and who carried black staffs in their hands, Retribution seized the cowering man. "Where is the Codex?! Where is the Place it is kept!" Retribution shouted.

"If I may brother this requires a bit more of a finesse touch" Deception stated and strolled up "Mentos Moxi!" Deception casted, "We are your friends tell us where the Codex is" Deception stated with a silken voice.

"The Codex is kept in the vault I'll show you the way" the Guard stated, and he showed them to a large circle, and pressed a button revealing a great spiral staircase.

"Thank you for your kindness friend" Deception stated, then decapitated him with one of his axes. "Come brothers let us see to finding the Codex" Deception stated, then they descended the stairs, they noted the guards were heavily armored and armed and hadn't seen them yet.

"Shallow shroud" Ambition casted, a cloud of darkness masked their presence. "Blaze of Sharook!" Ambition casted and a red and black flame wave came out of his palms and struck the guards they were fried alive and their screams were audible and attracted the attention of more guards, causing a mock fight.

"Penumbral Pendulum!" Deception casted and dark purple pendulum swung slicing the guards in half, the front half of their body fell forward and their back half backwards leaving a mulchy mess, another guard came charging at Ambition.

"VATRA MAZOG GRAZATH SLICTRA!" Ambition casted invoking the word of pain, the guard felt the worst pain any person could even receive as layers of his flesh peeled off like an onion as he was flayed alive, other guards ran at the sight only to be cut off by a wall of black and red flames. "Pit of Shades!" Ambition casted, the whole time behind his visor he had been maintain a cold emotionless demeanor, and his voice was equal cold and emotionless, a good-sized hole appeared dark shards of energy pulled the guards screaming into the vortex, which stretched them out before eviscerating them in bits, which were spat out, all the guards now lay dead, the brother continued into the main room where a giant set of Scales stood unbalanced.

"Now what" Retribution asked.

"We have here a weighted scale, Darkar's design no doubt, and don't touch it either of you, it is clearly a trap that if we don't balance it properly will activate those Shantiri Golems over there" Ambition explained, and the brothers did noticed said golems, they were far beyond their ability to defeat, the black and orange statues stood silently, among them were Shanteri Gargoyles as well.

"Now as you can see the scale is unbalanced, meaning the entrance to the Codex's resting place is closed, you can see that alter, on it are a number of items, we must put the ones that have the exact weight as that well weight on the other end of the Scales, put too much weight and the guardians will awaken and kill us; thus we will require a bit trickery" Deception explained. "the first step will be to figure out the weight of the weight on the scale already; that will be simple" Deception stated, then pulled out a scanner, which was able to get the density of the weight and thus its mass from that the weight. "The weight is about 200 pounds, now to way the objects on the alter" Deception stated then scanned the first of the objects, an iron ingot, it weighed about 20 pounds, or a tenth of the weight, then he noted the large candelabra which was made out of brass, that weighed ten pounds and so on until they had done a calculation of the weight.

Meanwhile… as the three Brothers were at work Grackthroat had succeeded in causing chaos, diving into the refreshment table, Sky, some of his friends, and a number of green specialists attempted to be heroes but got flung across the courtyard and in one case eaten by Grackthroat. "What is that thing Nathan!?" Bloom asked.

"Leodragus! Nasty creature, fortunately not a Manticore, if it was well I'd be cowering in a corner" Erasiel explained.

"You are afraid of Manticores?" Bloom asked in her Fairy form just like every other fairy who wasn't running off.

"What is there not the be afraid of when it comes to a Manticore, they can fly, they have the body of a lion but are the size of truck, a tail of a scorpion that can fire barbs from it that are the size of Ballista bolts and on top of that they are the most poisonous creatures in the Magic Dimension, trust me no way will I go near one of those things, not even a tame one; which is absurdly hard to obtain in the first place" Erasiel explained.

"So how are we going to deal with it?" Musa asked.

"By a bit of psychology, Leodragai are afraid of one thing, their natural predator a Royal Griffon; the largest of Griffons they are massive, and I can summon one" Erasiel explained. "Metric Vanta haoboss!" Erasiel casted and a massive Griffin the size of a semi-truck descended from the sky, to Erasiel's surprise the Leodragus let out a barrage of magic which terrified the Griffin and caused it to fly away. "That's no normal Leodragus; It's a faceless disguised as a Leodragus, Abolithon's behind this" Erasiel stated.

"Alright sisters let's give this Leodragus a piece of our minds" Stormy stated. "Electric Tornado!" Stormy casted and large tornado formed around her and tossed Grackthroat about before he sent wind flying from his wings sending her flying backward, Grackthroat turned to Erasiel.

"Darkar! Lord Abolithon sends his regards, surrender the Pixies!" Grackthroat roared.

"Over my ashes!" Erasiel replied and then flung a fireball at Grackthroat who absorbed the attack.

"Fool!" Grackthroat roared and then charged.

Back in the Ruins… "There one last thing" Deception stated and put a feather on top of the pile on the scale, the scale evened out and the sound of floor moving, as the floor folded in revealing a spiral flight of stairs leading downwards. "Don't make me drag you two down there" Deception remarked, and all three brothers descended the stairs, the bottom of said stairwell was a large door which opened with touch of the disc in the center, the large door slid open, revealing an alter where the Codex sat atop, in front of it a pixie sat in a throne.

"Surrender the Codex and you shall not be harmed" Deception stated

"Trespassers, you shall not take the Codex, I am Athena Pixie of War and I will not give up my charge to any who are not of the Order of the Red Cloak!" the Pixie remarked flying up from her chair and picking up a spear and a shield, Athena had fair skin, orange hair and olive eyes. She wore a Greek goddess dress. Her hairstyle was a high bun with a golden hair tie and with two strands of hair hanging at both sides of her face. She wore orange eyeshadow. Her wings are yellow with green outline and big green spots at the edge. Her wings generated an orange aura around her, her spear was polished white with a red colored tip which was jagged, the spear was made of Relix, the shield was a round Hoplon with the image of a Hydra on the face of it.

"You have got to be kidding; I'll fling you across the room tiny!" Retribution ranted, at this Athena adapted a human form which she still looked like she did in her pixie form but was now clearly human in appearance and size.

"Not so small now!" Athena stated.

"Enough let's get this over with!" Retribution stated drawing his axes and charging, his brothers flanked with their staves, Athena danced in between the brothers knocking one away with her shield and hitting the other with a ball head on the bottom of her spear with another, she attempted to isolate the brothers and soon turned Retribution's hubris against him driving her spear past his guard and thru his chest before yanking it out hitting him with the ball head to knock him down and sending his helm flying revealing his stunned face then she drove the spear thru his throat before countering a follow up attack from Ambition.

"NO!" Ambition yelled, he knew his brother would reincarnate but still seeing him die was something he was outraged about; his outrage caught Athena's spear after she attempted to embed it in his shoulder, it only barely pierced the first of the four layers of plates and still would have had to go thru the mail under that and then his hide which was stronger than most; How this Pixie had a Relix Spear was beyond him much less that she was able to handle three Phoenixes at once, granted they were only 500 years old but still a Phoenix is usually stronger than a pixie and there were three of them, Ambition though and he attempted to drive Athena's spear into her, she parried with her shield and yanked the weapon from him, before she was struck by Deception with his staff, knocking her down.

"Blindness of Agony!" Deception casted causing Athena's sight to fade and her eyes to hurt she dropped her spear. "Shadow binds of Valdaka!" Deception casted binding her. "Now for me to have some fun with you" Deception stated as he stripped her of her clothes.

"Brother we are here for the Codex" Ambition reminded.

"I'm aware of that but I'm sure you want to have your way with the guardian especially after what she did to Retribution" Deception retorted, Ambition smirked and removed his armor, Deception did the same, then they seized Athena and forced themselves into her, they were surprised by her not being a virgin, but they enjoyed sticking themselves into her none the less, Athena moaned in pain as she was violated both vaginally and anally, this went on for several rounds and both brothers took turns raping her from various angles, soon Athena was knocked out and they covered her with their cream before redressing. "There, let her live with that humiliation, now for the Codex" Deception remarked and took the Codex. "I'll be taking this spear too" Deception commented to the unconscious Athena "bitch" Deception muttered. "Shadow net of Amyntok" Deception casted leaving Athena tied up, he and his brother left, though not before defacing the alter and tattering Athena's gown.

Above… Grackthroat soon found himself entangled in at a net as Helia dragged him to ground level. "It's over now tell me minion of Abolithon why you attacked Red Fountain" Erasiel interrogated, to the laughter of Grackthroat.

"You think that you defeated me, I held back lost to you on purpose, you are a fool, you think that Abolithon sent me to cause panic, if so you are a fool farewell Darkar!" Grackthroat stated and transformed in a normal Faceless bat and flew off faster than Erasiel and the others could react, then teleported away.

"That isn't good, this whole thing was a diversion" Erasiel stated shocked. Erasiel then searched for Saladin and Faragonda, finding both not too far from where he was. "Saladin, this attack was only a diversion, something else happened, something was most likely stolen while we were busy fighting any ideas as to what that might be?" Erasiel explained.

"Stolen, well Erasiel our artifacts and more powerful objects are still at Alfea, we may have restocked our library, but we don't have everything we did in the old school" Saladin explained.

"Then it must have been in the ruins of old school, but we got virtually everything out of there during the battle last year what could- wait Saladin did you move the Codex?" Erasiel replied.

"No, the preparations for a new vault are not finished in the new school, therefore we kept it in the old vault which survived the explosion, under heavy guard, the guards there had enough supplies to last for 10 years; long enough for us to actually move the Codex" Saladin explained.

"Then that's what they were after, come on gather the other Professors, members of the Order of the Red Cloak only, I'll go explain things to the students" Erasiel ordered.

"I will do that" Saladin stated, Erasiel went to the Winx and the Trix who were still a bit shaken by the whole ordeal.

"Girls I'll be back, there is something that has come up, the place I'm going allows only members of my order to enter without being in danger of the defenses, I'll explain everything when I get back, in the meantime see to helping anybody who was hurt in that attack, also make sure to keep an eye out, there may be another attack" Erasiel instructed, the Winx and Trix nodded.

Shortly… Erasiel had gathered with the Professors, Faragonda stood at his side, as well Balthazar Gelt, Zatura and Saladin. "I was right, the main entrance is open" Erasiel stated.

"Indeed, let us continue on and see what has happened" Balthazar remarked, the group continued, descending down the stairs to the interior, there they found ashes and charred armor which was still warm. "The guards were overpowered by powerful magic; no normal attackers could be behind this" Balthazar stated.

"This looks like the work of Phoenixes, there are few who could overpower the guards here" Saladin stated.

"Indeed, I can tell" Erasiel replied, they continued onward, finding bodies that where charred, as well some that were shredded bloody chunks, and in the case of one, flayed like an onion. "Definitely Phoenix work" Erasiel stated, they then entered the main room where the scales were balanced, and more bodies lay dead on the ground. "They figured out the puzzle, the guardians are still inactive, which means we are likely to find more dead, poor Athena" Erasiel stated, they descended the stairwell and entered the grand vault, what Erasiel saw outraged him, Athena, naked with tattered clothing, covered in semen. Erasiel ran over to her and checked for a pulse and was relived to find she was still alive, he pulled out a robe and used magic to clean and cloth her before picking her up, he then turned to the alter where just as expected the Codex was gone. "Well now we know what happened here, and importantly we know Abolithon's plan, he wants to enter the Relix Dimension and use it to provide himself and his forces with Relix weaponry and armor, with that kind of power at his hands he could conquer Magix easily" Erasiel observed to the sharp focus of the others. "Fortunately, he doesn't know an important fact; that the Codex he stole is only one of four parts, he would need to find them all, on top of that he needs the Dragon flame to activate the codex and enter the Relix Dimension, so for now we need to bide our time and double our guard; Griffin, Faragonda I need you two to make sure the security for your codex parts are doubled, on top of that make sure that the guardian Pixies are made aware of what happened to Athena; I'll inform Ninfea of what happened here, the Pixies are still priority, Abolithon may use them as hostages to get Ninfea's Codex piece" Erasiel explained.

"We must notify the council" Saladin stated.

"Indeed, I'll inform the members myself; they'll debate though before we can get anything remotely done" Erasiel replied, Athena groaned recovering consciousness; Erasiel helped her up.

"I've failed you Erasiel my love, I failed to keep the Codex safe; not only was I beaten I've been- violated and by the looks of things robbed; my spear its gone!" Athena exclaimed, Erasiel wrapped his arms around her to comfort her, her hair was a mess, he comforted her.

"It's alright Athena, I forgive you, don't worry I'll make sure whoever did this to you pays, also I'll get your spear back, now in the meantime I'm going to have you stay at the new school, the ruins are fully compromised, also I'm glad to see someone alive down here, the rest of the defenders well they're all dead now" Erasiel explained.

"I can move past this, I'll heal from this, though memories will remain" Athena stated glumly.

"Trust me they'll rot in the Oblivion Dimension when I'm done with them" Erasiel explained.

Meanwhile at Shadowhaunt….

Retribution stood irately, clad in his armor but his hair and eyes were white, a side effect of Reincarnation. "I can't believe that Pixie beat me, me a Phoenix, a not just a Phoenix but a son of House Shadowthorn" Retribution mumbled. Abolithon sat on the Shadow Throne smiling at the gift his two sons had brought him.

"Father we have acquired the Codex as planned" Deception stated, Ambition brought the Codex on a cushion and placed it on his father's lap.

"Excellent, now will come- wait" Abolithon stated, studying the Codex as a jeweler would a gem to verify it being an actual gem and not colored glass.

"What's wrong?" Ambition asked.

"Nothing of your doing Ambition, no the Codex- It's incomplete, these is only a part of the Codex, you've done well my sons, bar you Retribution; your foolishness cost you an incarnation, don't let your rage blind you in the future. Deception you and Retribution have risen in importance, now we wait and bide our time and look for information about the Codex, as well as to allow for them to let their guard down" Abolithon stated. "We are one step closer to our goal" Abolithon noted then stared off and laughed manically.


	33. Arc 2 Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Professor Avalon's class and secrets

Magix; Brightspire, Wizard's Council: 5:00 PM…

Erasiel sat in his seat on the Wizard's Council; the head of this body he was seen only when the situation was dire, to his side sat Faragonda and Griffin, the state of the council was an emergency session at 5 PM one he had called for, among the representatives were some of the most powerful casters in the Magic Dimension, that didn't mean there weren't any moderately strong casters on the council, some didn't have magic. "To the body of the Council I have called this meeting to session in the wake of the attack on Red Fountain, you all know I wouldn't attend a meeting let alone call one without good reason. In light of that this is serious, as in threat to the Magic Dimension serious, however there are important matters that need to see to; by now I'm sure you are wondering about what this threat is, well that threat is a Phoenix" Erasiel explained. "His name is Abolithon Shadowthorn of the house of the same name, which was up until now a minor vassal to house Darkar which has served our family for millennia, now Abolithon was a traitor to his family as he fought for the Ancestresses, about a 1,000 years ago I imprisoned him in Saragathol one of the strongest Phoenix prisons, but apparently he escaped, he has since gathered a large following and in a recent move he attacked Shadowhaunt and captured it along with my Father and those loyal to him. He soon afterwards captured Pixies from Pixieville for reasons I didn't know until recently, I have found out his objective, he is after the Relix Codex with the goal of opening a portal to the Relix Dimension, if he succeeds he would have the means to arm a Grand Phoenix Army the likes of which hasn't been on the field of battle since the Phoenix Wars; my spies indicate his followers are large in number, he has used diplomacy to ally himself with mighty warlord kingdoms and with a number of minor noble houses" Erasiel explained.

The members of the Council regarded the words of Erasiel with much debate, Erasiel himself allowed their debating until the debates turned into arguments which resulted in him banging his staff on the ground loudly. "Enough this bickering is pointless; Red Fountain has already been attacked our fragment of the Codex has been stolen and our school's Guardian Pixie raped, the threat is far too serious for any bickering over ethics!" Kordatura yelled.

"Indeed the matter is serious but I request the Council invoke formal debating on the measure and that such measure be formalized and brought thru the recommended channels" Councilmen Yerka stated, he was a short old bald man round facial features and when standing was about the height of Erasiel's waist, he wore long red robes that flow past his thighs with sleeves that barely go past his wrists, a gold pendant which could be seen just under his white long beard, and matching red pants and shoes.

"Great that's all we need; more bureaucratic nonsense, I should have stayed in the palace" Zephyr Darkar remarked, she was a beautiful phoenix with pale skin blue eyes and gothic styled black hair, her father's eyes and mother's hair, her attire was black and purple, she also was generally annoyed at anything that she didn't enjoy.

"More useless talking this is a waste of time!" Kordatura remarked glaring at Yerka with venom that if looks could kill, would kill him.

"Don't worry Zephyr I'm not going to make you stay here, you can head back home if you want to" Erasiel remarked.

"Thank you Erasiel; I'm taking full advantage of that; see you soon" Zephyr stated then teleported. "In my room" she added telepathically, at that Erasiel smiled.

"Now this is a serious matter and serious matters should be voted on" Councilmen Givelian stated.

"I'm well aware of that I simply don't enjoy the possibility of Abolithon having an army clad fully in Relix by the time we bring a measure up to a vote" Kordatura remarked.

"People this is a matter of urgency" Faragonda argued.

"Does Abolithon know where the other pieces of the Codex are?" Givelian asked.

"No, only myself, Faragonda, Saladin, Griffin, and Ninfea know where they are as we hid them, not counting their guardian pixies; the safety of the Codex is of prior importance, I refuse to leave an artifact that opens a portal to one of most powerful magical realms in existence in one place especially since only certain Phoenixes can enter open a portal without said Codex" Erasiel noted.

"Indeed, and does Abolithon possess the means to open it?" Givelian followed up.

"He has half of the means, the Shadowfire of my family since he controls the Shadow Hearth in Shadowhaunt, it is one of the two halves of the key, the other being the Dragon Flame, few of my race possess both the Shadowfire and Dragon Flame in their blood at the same time and only someone with both powers can even use the Codex" Erasiel replied.

"Then we have the time we need to debate this matter, for as long as the other pieces are out of his reach and he possesses no person who can use both the Shadowfire and Dragon Flame he will be unlikely to leave Shadowhaunt unguarded; much less be able to pose a threat" Givelian concluded.

"Fine then play your games, but if Abolithon gets his hands on the Codex fragments and someone with both the Dragon Flame and the Shadowfire you will sure as hell get off your asses and bring the might of the Council down on Abolithon!" Kordatura stated.

"I agree with councilor Kordatura on that matter" Balthazar Gelt stated.

"As do I" Faragonda added.

"I definitely do" Erasiel stated. "Then that draws this meeting to conclusion, anything that involves this matter coming to a vote will be sent to me via courier Faceless ASAP understand?" Erasiel stated and everyone nodded. "Good now I've got other matters to attend to, I have no time for the politicking of the council and I have a sister of mine that I need to talk to in addition to other things on my schedule, I will see my fellow colleagues at Alfea on Monday in the meantime I have things to do" Erasiel stated and left the room and teleported.

Shortly… Erasiel arrived in Zephyr's room, were to no surprise she was laying on her bed in her most seductive underwear. "You have been busy a lot lately, I've been bored Erasiel, missed you and your touch, I'm horny and need something to make me feel better" Zephyr stated, her blood red lips smirking for emphasis. Erasiel didn't need much in the way of convincing to strip himself of his clothing, and Zephyr really didn't want to bother putting on a show of actual flirting beyond the usual case of "Erasiel I need you to give me a good time" Zephyr smiled on seeing him undressed and fully aroused. Zephyr only smiled around him, other people annoyed her. Erasiel removed her bra and panties before embedding himself in her and began to thrust softly in her, his sister moaned which he silenced with a kiss, they then began to tumble about and Zephyr was soon on top of him, they broke the kiss and Erasiel began to drink from her left breast while jiggling her butt-cheeks with his hands, the moans from the roam soon echoed loudly, and then they continued.

An hour later… "You know I've missed that" Zephyr replied. "I love you my little brother, with all my heart" she added.

"I love you too big sis, and you're right I missed doing that with you too, you know I'd stick around longer but I have a date with three lovely faeries at the same time and I'd rather not keep them waiting" Erasiel explained.

"You and your harem, you know you should bring them here some time and then the five of us could have some fun" Zephyr noted.

"You know the lesser races frown upon intimate relationships in between siblings" Erasiel stated.

"Ha! I forgot about that, well we don't need to let them know about us being siblings" Zephyr stated, then giggled.

"Can't pull that off, they asked me about my family and I gave a description of our siblings and our parents to them" Erasiel replied.

"Oh, you did, now what did you say about me?" Zephyr responded.

"I told them I love you dearly" Erasiel remarked and then kissed her, it was tender kiss, incest among Phoenixes was common, especially given the fact that females outnumbered the males 3 to 1 the birth rate for Phoenixes was 75% chance of daughter and 25% chance of a son which meant that in order to maintain their numbers multiple women had to share the same mate, however it had no negative side-effects when it came to children, the only thing it did was that it was considered taboo among the other races.

"I'm glad you do" Zephyr stated. Erasiel left his sister, made sure to teleport outside then flew off to where he had parked his Space Strider, which was untouched by anyone; a given because the city of Scalespire was his own and that no criminal would think of robbing the leader of the city out of fear of what he would do to them. Erasiel dawned his Space Strider suit and took off, he headed towards Magix City at top speed. Erasiel was glad that no traffic was out, and important thing that helped him move easily. Within 30 minutes he arrived in Magix City, changed into his date attire and then proceeded to head to the arranged place where he found his dates: Priscilla, Luna and Katy. Luna was gorgeous well-endowed with DD-cup breasts, had light skinned complexion, dark green hair in a bob haircut and dark green eyes, she wore a pink short dress with bracelets. Priscilla was also beautiful and well-endowed with DD-cup breasts had pink-toned skin with dark brown eyes and a maroon A-line bob haircut, she wore a lime green short dress with open gloves. Katy was a beautiful fair-skinned girl with chest-length, light brown wavy hair, she was well-endowed with DD-cup breasts, she wore a pink tank top with two very thin shoulder straps, along with a knee-length matching pink skirt that was worn underneath her top. She had on dark magenta gloves stopping just before her elbows. Her hair was pulled back and straightened with a small flip along the edges, along with having two very thin loops of hair on top of her head, resembling mouse ears. Her shoes were high heel sandals with the same color as her dress.

Considering the circumstances Erasiel was glad it was a weekend, this allowed him to be prepared for his lessons which he would have to give on Monday as well as his practice sessions with the Trix who he had helped earlier in the day. This date consisted of him first heading to dinner at a fancy restaurant which he had reservation at, then taking his dates to a movie, which was quite good, as it was an action movie, which was a lot better than the horror movie he took Pusilitia to see the last week, it had been terrible and dull. The date soon concluded, and he returned with the ladies to Alfea, where fortunately Griselda was passed out asleep due to her going to bed early usually that meant Faragonda would be prowling the halls due to her insomnia or Professor Palladium who needed only 3 hours of sleep which he got during the afternoon, they met neither of the two as they returned to the dorm of the three, and Erasiel was surprised when Luna locked the door.

"The date isn't over Nathan, we've been at this for months now and well we've- "Luna stuttered shyly.

"Please let me handle it, what we're saying is well let's take our relationship to the next level" Katy stated.

"In other wards Nathan we've decided we want to tie the knot soon, where we come from, Lynphea, its customary to pledge one's virginity and undying love before marriage, then to marry within the week" Priscilla explained, then undid the straps on her dress, Luna and Katy followed suit, leaving themselves in their underwear which was rather exotic.

"I'm honored that you feel that way about me" Erasiel stated and used magic to strip to his birthday suit, which shocked them by how big he was. The ladies removed their bras and panties wearing only stockings and garter belts, they then kneeled in front of him and proceeded to give him head, Erasiel enjoyed this and laid back on the floor, they wrapped their breasts around his length and proceeded to massage his length all the while working their tongues around it. This lasted for a few minutes before Erasiel released leaving a creamy bukkake on all three girls both on their faces and their breasts which they eagerly licked off, they moved to the bed and Erasiel took Luna first, in her rump and proceeded to ride her while suckling Katy's breasts as Priscilla gave him a back massage with her breasts, each movement flourished, Erasiel's skill was unrivaled in this art and all three of them rejoiced when he popped their cherries soon impregnating each of them in turn. The lovemaking continued into the night and soon they passed on the bed.

Meanwhile elsewhere in Alfea… Bloom was sleeping and in dreams "There she is Daphne; your new sister isn't she lovely" a woman stated.

"Yes Mom, she is beautiful" Daphne stated, picking up Bloom. " Now for a song, a song of our family and a song for you" Daphne stated "Blooming lights, shadows fall, the dragon rises true and strong, for ages let us reign, in Asha's sacred name; for all that glitters isn't gold, not all he wander are lost, strength of old is not withered, deep roots are untouched by the frost, every love is unfading, the ages still the same; for all that we cherish is simple still the same" "Bloom of fire, Bloom of light, named for new radiant life, like an ember for a Phoenix born, from fire you rise" Daphne sung and both Orital and Marion planted kisses on their newborn daughter's head

Bloom woke up "My birth parents" Bloom thought to herself and then fell asleep

The following morning Erasiel woke up, with Katy passed out on top of him his length still inside her, he made a note for the marriage within the week, then he dressed and left the dorm making sure to dodge anyone in the halls. He arrived soon in central room and noted his watch, the new day had dawned, and his first proper day of teaching would begin in earnest, the first thing to do was to make sure he had everything he needed, starting with his two pixies who were sleeping in his room on his bed. "Wakey, wakey Zing and Livy! We have a new day ahead of us and I'm excited for it" Erasiel shouted waking both pixies who had been in their pajamas, both Zing and Livy changed into their day clothes with a simple spell.

"So, are you going to teach them how to blow stuff up?!" Zing asked excitedly.

"It's only the first week Zing, yes but later on in the month, as to what I need you two for, well moral support and for a demonstration of the differences having a bonded pixie confers" Erasiel explained.

"You know I can't help but feel awkward, last night I had strange feelings, passionate ones towards you" Livy remarked.

"Oh those, that would be me doing what I do best in my down time, trust me you'll both get used to it, heck at some point you two will act on those feelings for me, but until then we have a lot to do" Erasiel explained.

"Right well let's get down to business then" Zing stated, and they left the room both pixies hovering alongside Erasiel with relative patience and grace. Then he ran into Bloom.

"Good morning Bloom" Erasiel stated.

"Nathan, morning, I was looking for you, I've had another dream last night" Bloom explained urgently, Erasiel noted this.

"What did you see, what was it you dreamt about?" Erasiel asked the began walking with each other.

"My parents, both of them, I recognized them from their portrait, also Daphne she was singing to me" Bloom replied.

"Ah I see, well did they say anything" Erasiel asked.

"Yes, they told me how much they loved me, I really wish I knew more about them, even more I wish I could have the chance to know them and love them and live with them" Bloom replied.

"I see, they did truly love you, I knew them both personally, your mother was one of the finest students I ever had the chance to teach at Graynor, even before then, she was one of the mightiest faeries ever, even more powerful then Faragonda" Erasiel stated, "Your father was one of the mightiest warriors ever, I taught him his sword play after his father died, he would be proud to know you avenged your grandfather, in fact he would be proud of the amazing fairy warrior you've become" he continued.

"So, my mother was more powerful then Faragonda, I find that hard to believe" Bloom replied.

"Your mother is older than Faragonda, in fact it would be best if you learned about your family tree, it would be interesting especially on your mother's side" Erasiel replied.

"Older then Faragonda? She sure doesn't look it" Bloom stated.

"Does Faragonda look older then you?" Erasiel replied.

"Not really she looks about the same age as me" Bloom stated.

"Don't let looks deceive you about the age of someone, especially when you are a member of an immortal race like a fairy or an elf, or a Phoenix" Erasiel stated.

"How old are you Nathan?" Bloom asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" Erasiel responded.

"I probably wouldn't" Bloom noted.

"Would that answer detract from your opinion on me" Erasiel asked.

"Not given the fact that I'll live forever if I don't get myself killed" Bloom replied.

"Good because I can't remember off the top of my head, it's been a while since I last marked it, a hundred years is a blink in the eyes of an elf and in terms of a Phoenix it's a thought" Erasiel replied, Bloom giggled at that, Katy walked up to them.

"Hey Nathan, hi Bloom" Katy greeted then she clung to Erasiel.

"Morning Katy, how's your day going" Bloom stated.

"Wonderful especially given the fact I'm going to marry next week, along with my friends" Katy stated.

"Really who's the lucky guy?" Bloom asked.

"Your standing next to him" Katy stated planting a kiss on Erasiel's cheek.

"Well that's a shocker, you really get around don't you, first Princess Amentia and now Katy and who else" Bloom said to Erasiel.

"Priscilla and Luna; both of Katy's friends" Erasiel replied.

"Yes, we pledged ourselves to him last night, and boy was that fun, Luna's rear is still sore from the about 10 times you rode it" Katy stated.

"Wait you four actually- "Bloom stated shocked.

"Yes, and before you protest we're from Lynphia its normal to pledge yourself to somebody and marry the week after your first time" Katy stated.

"Oh yes I remember now, Flora told me about that last year" Bloom stated.

"I know our customs may seem strange to you but on our world it is perfectly normal" Katy stated, Stella came up to them.

"Hey Nathan, Bloom, Katy, what's all this gossip about I must here the details in full" Stella asked.

"After first period, it starts in 1 minute, remember I'm a teacher now and I can give a tardy slip if you're late" Erasiel stated, that caused all three of them to run off towards Palladium's class, Kerborg perched on Erasiel's shoulder. "What can I say Kerborg, I have way with the ladies" Erasiel remarked and both of them laughed.

Shortly in Palladium's class… "Why is Palladium's class first period?" Luna asked Bloom.

"I have no idea" Bloom stated. Erasiel sat in a chair while the Pixies hovered near him, all of them actually, clad in his instructor's garb he cut the demeanor of a wise wizard ready to teach his students in a wonders of magic.

"Because of a new course I will be teaching, the understanding and application of practical and universal magic, also known as Cantrips and how to use them" Professor Palladium stated entering the room, he had a completely new look from last year he had light colored eyes instead of dark eyes and was more muscular; his hair was still long but it was now a lighter shade of orange and had yellow highlights on both sides of his head and he now had side burns. He wore an ivory puffy long sleeve collared shirt and pants, a teal ascot, green vest and knee-high tan boots.

"I will be assisting in teaching the class and will provide useful information" Erasiel explained.

"Indeed, Professor Darkar will be of great help here" Palladium stated. "Now first off I will take role" Palladium stated, then called the names of each student and marked them on his attendance sheet. "Good everyone is here, now for the first lesson, do any of you know what cantrips are?" Palladium asked, Ortensia raised her hand along with a number of other students including Bloom. "Ortensia explain" Palladium stated.

"I will Professor, Cantrips are universal spells that any caster can use, they are some of the oldest spells in existence" Ortensia explained.

"And some of the first that the Phoenixes taught to the lesser races; they are very practical" Erasiel added.

"Excellent Ortensia, now for a lesson, that is on what you know and think you know; the important thing to remember about cantrips is that they are not limited to what you think you know about using them but how they can be used; for example, let me ask a question; Flora who was the first fairy" Palladium asked.

"Claryel" Flora answered, which caused Erasiel to giggle under his breath.

"And who told you that?" Palladium asked.

"My mother" Flora replied.

"I see, and you believe her on that?" Palladium replied.

"Of course, I do, she's never wrong" Flora replied.

"And there is the result of knowing what you think you know without knowing about the truth, you think Claryel is the first fairy because someone else told you she was the first fairy, however that doesn't me she is" Palladium explained.

"The first fairy is Arcadia Essentar; she was also the first Fairy High Queen before giving the title to her oldest daughter Fyora the current High Queen, Claryel is the First-sword and mightiest and first Warrior fairy as well as the Queen's herald, as you can see knowing what you think you know isn't the same as actually knowing" Erasiel added.

"Indeed; now for our first spell one of the most basic spells the plasma sphere, it is a universal spell, as you can see in that corner I have set up several large targets for the practice of spells, another thing to know about cantrips is that they can be used outside of your fairy form, though doing so will impact their strength" Palladium stated. "First I will demonstrate the spell then I will choose a student to demonstrate said spell by hitting one of the targets; the important thing about cantrips is visualizing them in your mind so they will form properly, simply casting them will result in well weaker spells" Palladium explained, then closed his eyes focusing on the magic and a small green sphere formed in his palms.

"How did you do that without speaking Professor" Luna asked.

"Another thing about cantrips is you don't need to speak the spell to cast them though this takes years of practice" Palladium stated spinning the orb around in his hands, before dispelling it. While he was saying this Amaryl and Stella were whispering in an argument.

"Amaryl would you be so kind as to demonstrate the plasma sphere" Erasiel stated, breaking off the argument.

"Yes Nath- Professor Darkar" Amaryl replied giving him a wink, Amaryl then stepped up next to Professor Palladium.

"Now close your eyes and visualize the spell" Palladium instructed. Amaryl closed her eyes.

"Plasma Sphere" Amaryl casted and a green sphere materialized in her hands.

"Excellent Amaryl now choose a target and throw" Palladium stated, Amaryl looked at the targets then at Stella with a smirk and threw the sphere at Stella; Erasiel leapt to intercept the spell catching it with a finger before compressing it into a marble sized ball and squishing it between his fingers.

"Amaryl that was unacceptable, another stunt like that and I will have you expelled" Palladium stated glaring at her.

"It was just a joke" Amaryl defended and grinned guiltily.

"That kind of joke is unsuitable for Alfea, perhaps it would- "Palladium stated but Erasiel interrupted.

"If you were about to say fly at Cloud Tower no Palladium it wouldn't, as for this since it is a first offense, and no one was hurt Amaryl no harm no foul, however I still want you to cast the spell at one of the actual targets" Erasiel stated. Amaryl turned and threw another Plasma Sphere this time at one of the actual targets leaving a sizeable hole in the middle where the bullseye was. "Good job Amaryl now apologize to Stella" Erasiel stated, Amaryl turned to Stella who was annoyed by the whole events.

"I'm sorry Stella for trying to throw that plasma sphere at you" Amaryl apologized.

"Were you on Soloria I would have challenged to you to honor duel in fencing for trying to kill me however I accept your apology Amaryl; also, I'm sorry for that little argument" Stella responded.

"Good now that that is out of the of the way we can continue with the rest of the lesson" Erasiel stated. The lesson continued for another hour until the bell rang and the time had come for the second period, the Magic-philosophy class with Professor Avalon, there was chatter among the students about Avalon. "Don't mean to disappoint you girls but my cousin prefers elves and Phoenixes exclusively" Erasiel stated to them which caused those who were interested in dating prospects to stop discussing the subject.

They soon arrived at the Classroom for the class only to find Professor Avalon standing in front of the door. "Students, today's class will not be indoors, it is outside in a practice yard" Avalon explained, everyone followed him outside to the practice yard where a large stone rested with two swords sheaved in it, around the stone where large number of stations around it, each station had a chair for a student to sit in with number of objects on it the stations were meant for enchanting, the glass ceiling over the yard shimmered with the late morning sun. "Today students we will be learning about enchantments, a subject dear to my heart, the purpose of learning about enchanting is twofold: one to teach a practical skill that can be learned by any magic and non-magic user alike and two to exercise your creativity, one of the most important things about magic is being creative with it, each day we will alternate between how magic can be used and why I should be used" Avalon explained then moved to stand next to the stone. "First things first however a demonstration of how enchantments work, one of these swords is enchanted and the other is not, I will select two students to duel with a blade, the one that breaks is not enchanted choose wisely" Avalon stated, Erasiel giggled to himself. Avalon pointed at Bloom "Bloom" Avalon chose, then pointed at another fairy "Selene" Avalon chose. Selene had a tan complexion, blue eyes and blue hair pulled into ponytails with small strands of hair on the sides of her face. Her hair was pulled up with orange bands. She wore a turquoise sport bra with two orange stripes on each side and a long turquoise skirt with one orange stripe down each side, on the side of her skirt was a sheathed sword with a golden cross-guard, She also wore orange and white heels and light blue socks. "I've selected the two of you because I know you have experience with swords, now please choose your weapons, Bloom you get first pick" Avalon stated.

"Alright" Bloom stated, then strode up to the stone and drew one of the swords, it was an elegant sword, an orange phanto-blade saber with an ornately decorated guard which had the wiring of a rapier's guard in addition to the guard of a saber.

"Good choice Bloom, Selene take the other blade" Avalon instructed.

"Sure Professor, I guess I can work with it" Selene stated hesitant, she walked up and drew the other sword, it was a long straight longsword with little distinguishing features it appeared to be made of steel the one feature it did have was a noticeable and large chip in the upper half of the blade but other than that it looked like a normal blade. Erasiel smirked as Selene drew the sword but only Avalon noticed, as did Kerborg who was perched on his shoulder.

"Now en guarde!" Avalon stated. Bloom and Selene shouted a battle cry and charged at each other, the blades clashed in a flourish of movements, Bloom was a trained fighter but not an amazing fighter, but she could hold her own surprisingly against Selene who was a skilled fighter. The clashing of metal was heard in addition to the "Oo's" and "Ah's" of the other students.

"Please I could do better" Stella stated mentally. The slashing and clashing lasted for another minute when suddenly Bloom's sword blade shattered into seven shards which crashed against hers and Selene's wards before falling harmlessly to the ground.

"What happened?" Bloom remarked rhetorically. "I guess my sword wasn't the right one" Bloom added.

"Indeed Bloom, you chose the more modern sword which was high-quality in its own right however it was not enchanted, the blade Selene chose was made of star mithril and was enchanted with powerful enchantments, the chip in the blade was made by a powerful blow from another weapon" Avalon explained.

"A great-axe made of Adamantium layered with runes and forged by a Dwarven master Runesmith, I should know especially since I put it there in the first place during one of our sparring sessions Avalon" Erasiel commented.

"Indeed, don't let appearances deceive you in the future Bloom, and there you can see the power of enchantments" Avalon explained.

"Let's have a further demonstration" Erasiel commented drawing Persuasion and Reason. "Bloom, Selene, take one of each blades, this is a demonstration of skill and of what happens when two weapons with a same enchantment meet each other" Erasiel explained, Bloom took Reason and Selene took Persuasion, the two Falchions were twins in every way.

"This blade is so lightweight in fact it feels like it's an extension of my arm" Selene remarked holding the blade forward.

"That is the magic of a Relix blade forged by a Phoenix Master Smith, though not a grand master smith, I made those two myself and I know my limits in craft, trust me though a Relix weapon can pierce any armor and if enchanted cut thru anything and break any weapon not made of Relix in prolonged brawl, these two swords are my own pride and joy, now enough explaining: Have at it!" Erasiel stated, then Bloom and Selene locked swords yet again the clashing to the two blades sounded like bells being knocked together, but the fluidity of the movement was astounding, the clashing was even more intense and lasted longer until Selene once again disarmed Bloom of her weapon.

"Yet again I beat you Bloom anyone else care to try" Selene challenged.

Erasiel stepped forward picked up Reason from the ground. "Challenge accepted" Erasiel stated then smiled, then struck Selene was caught off guard but recovered quickly but still she was on the defensive completely, Erasiel was too fast and too good and he was doing so with one hand, he relaxed his attack encouraging Selene to strike which she did with forceful blades but Erasiel was feinting and used a riposte to send Persuasion flying out of Selene's hand into the air only for Erasiel to catch the blade in his empty hand. "you are quite a good blades women Selene, but you were out of your league, I was only using basic attacks for the entirety of the fight, but as you can see both blades are unscathed, now Selene you and Bloom have done an excellent job demonstrating in enchantments and I'm sure your fellow students are looking forward to seeing more" Erasiel stated, Selene blushed at his compliment.

"As you can see the effects of enchantments are myriad and few are the same, the times when they are the same is if they were made by the same person and with the same materials; now onto the construction of enchanted items, with enchanted items you have a variety of enchantments and ways for enchanting, today however you will learning the simplest and most common form of enchanting, that is with soul gems; Soul Gems are magical stones of crystalized entrophytic crystals, they trap the souls of creatures, there are two types of souls, White souls which are the souls of animals and plants and black souls which are the souls of sentient races; including all the lesser races; now Phoenixes are a third type of soul one that is impossible to entrap in a soul gem, an orange soul or a fiery soul, these souls are those of god tier beings ones that cannot permanently die; thus they cannot be trapped in soul gems, the only places capable of containing them are entirely different planes of existence; for the purposes of today's lesson you will each create a set of enchanted jewelry, consisting of a necklace, two bracelets and two rings" Avalon explained.

Thus the class began to their work in earnest and by the time class concluded each student had finished a set with varying results fortunately none were explosive. "That is all for today class, there is no homework today; that will come with a philosophy segment of the class which will be tomorrow each day we will alternate the subjects as I've told you before" Avalon stated, Everyone left but Avalon grabbed Bloom and she turned around. "Bloom this is for you for help in the lesson and for learning more about enchantments this will suit your own experiments in it" Avalon stated handing Bloom the sword which had been broken but in the time they had been working Avalon had fixed the blade completely not a chip or fracture in sight, it was pristine.

"Thank you Professor Avalon" Bloom stated. "I'll try and come up with a name for it" Bloom replied

After class concluded Selene followed the Winx. "Hey girls, can I talk to you" Selene asked, the Winx stopped.

"What is it Selene" Bloom asked.

"I've seen the way you girls go about the school and look up to you for what you've done for Alfea, I've been thinking about this for a while but now having gaged Bloom's skill with a blade I want to join your group" Selene answered.

"Group talk" Bloom stated and the other Winx including Erasiel whispered among themselves before dispersing. "Alright we're in agreement, Selene: welcome to the Winx" Bloom explained, and Selene cheered.

"Awesome! Selene fairy of Metal now part of the Winx" Selene stated.

They moved about to the next class which was Professor Whizgiz's class, there Tecna talked to Erasiel. "Something is off about Professor Avalon" Tecna remarked.

"He's my cousin, any relation of mine is sure to be a bit eccentric" Erasiel replied.

"Not that, it's I don't know he seems too perfect" Tecna stated.

"I can see that, well looks can be deceiving as your lesson today showed, trust me my cousin may keep up an appearance of being squeaky clean but trust me he has his faults just like I do, and you have to remember Tecna it's been a while since he last taught, the last time he taught at a public school was 17 years ago and he's a bit out practice, besides it's been nearly 3000 years since I was a teacher; I haven't taught a class since Graynor; trust me Tecna the only reason I'm teaching now is thanks to Bloom avenging Graynor, Avalon may have his faults but overall he's a good person" Erasiel replied.

"Well I'm glad you can see that in him, as for me, I'm not certain; he feels off and I don't know what it is, but my gut tells me something is wrong with him" Tecna stated.

"Well you can be as suspicious as you want to be, if you think something's off about my cousin you might as well look into him if you want to; I've got other things to be concerned about, like making sure young Whizgiz doesn't hurt himself during his transmographication lesson" Erasiel stated.

"Nathan you think Professor Avalon can help me with regards to well learning more about my parents" Bloom asked.

"That's actually a good idea, my cousin is an expert in regard to dreams like those you've been having Bloom, We'll have to talk with him about this sometime" Erasiel replied. They continued on and arrived in Professor Whizgiz's where the leprechaun professor was fiddling with a projector of some sort. "Good morning my college, Whizgiz what are you doing?" Erasiel asked.

"Oh Erasiel, good to see ye, don't mind this, just making sure this magic projector is working properly; once I've checked it I'm going to run some tests to make sure it works; then I'll finally have resolved the matter of having a working projector" Whizgiz replied. "Anyway, sit down, have a seat, we have much to demonstrate today" Whizgiz explained and Erasiel took a spot near the professor. Whizgiz's class could only be described as well interesting, during the period Erasiel couldn't help but focus on other more matters mentally, the subject of the day's lesson couldn't be more out of his field of expertise.

Whizgiz's class however lasted for an only an hour then it came time for lunch, an hour-long lunch. Shortly in the Cafeteria.

"I can't believe the lack of good food today" Stella commented having eaten part of her meal and finding it less than pleasing.

"I agree it's as if Chef Sfoglia is trying to make us think he couldn't go lower" Musa agreed, she took a look at the one thing on her plate she didn't eat an orange. "I'm not a fan of oranges, anyone want this?" Musa commented.

"I'll take anything, it's way better than the spicy enchiladas on my plate, too much sauce and not enough spice" Stella commented and then took the orange, or in this case attempted to take the orange only to realize it was a hologram after several attempts.

"Ah it works!" Whizgiz commented standing next to a cart holding the projector.

"Really Professor? Really!? You just had to test that during lunch did you" Stella retorted.

"My apologies, a little joke from time to time is amusing, anyway I must see to other tests for this projector; fare thee well" Whizgiz stated and pushed the cart away.

"I wonder where Nathan is?" Bloom commented.

"Please if he's on lunch break he's not going to eat Chef Sfoglia's cooking" Selene remarked.

"I don't know what you guys are complaining about this tastes good to me" Flora stated.

"It's passible certainly better than my mother's cooking" Ayesha remarked.

"Hey where is Luna?" Katy remarked noting her friends absence.

"No idea" Priscilla commented.

"Please can you two be anymore louder? I'm trying to read" Tecna stated having finished her lunch, Digit hovered next to her as she read a book.

"What are you reading" Bloom asked.

"Oh, it's a book on the alignments of planets and impacts that alignments can have on events and how they can be used to predict future events" Tecna stated.

"Sounds like boring read" Musa remarked.

"Please to everyone their own" Francis commented.

"I agree" Ayesha stated.

As they continued eating Professor Avalon walked in, he was in a happy mood unlike most of the people who were disappointed in the day's lunch. "Hello students, I can see a number of you aren't feeling well, how about I change that" Avalon commented, then cast a spell which caused a bouquet of flowers to materialize in front of each person, which cause genuine smiles and surprise. Avalon then walked over to Bloom. "Ah Bloom I've needed to see you, my cousin just told me a few minutes ago that you've been having dreams of a peculiar sort" Avalon stated.

"Yes Professor, dreams about my parents and my family and about Domino in general" Bloom stated.

"I see, well I am glad my cousin recommended I see you, I can help with that, I am an expert in that field and I would like to learn more about you Bloom and possibly allow you some useful knowledge" Avalon replied.

"Really you'll do that, thanks Professor Avalon, speaking of your cousin where is he" Bloom replied.

"Ah Erasiel, good you asked, he's otherwise in engaged in more private matters, nothing you need to worry about, after he's done with those matters he said he'll get lunch at the White Horse and that he'll be back by the time of Alchemy class next period" Avalon explained. "Speaking of Alchemy Bloom could tell Professor Gelt I would like to speak to him later I'll need his assistance in matter of alchemy, Bloom the study dreams does require some potions and while I am a skilled alchemist, the kind of potions I need brewed require a master's touch" Avalon stated.

"Alright I can do that" Bloom stated.

"Good I'll see you later, Bloom see in my office later in the afternoon; I've other things that need tending to" Avalon stated then left the room leaving a quite perplexed Bloom.

Meanwhile…. Erasiel was currently in bliss at the moment as was Luna as he currently was current banging her doggy style and in her large ass, which while not on the level of Bloom's (Which he hadn't yet tapped) or that of Kordatura's it was certainly large, and the fact Luna's go to position was his go-to position made for fun, they were currently in a secluded room near the library or it was actually auxiliary guestroom adjacent to a stairwell that came from a storage room near the library and was hidden behind a concealed wall, the room in question came from the day's when Alfea wasn't just a school but a fortress on Magix that was defended against the forces of both The Ancestresses and Lighthaven, currently though it was a secluded room that had been cleaned by Erasiel and was used by him for liaisons of this sort. "Oh, Nathan harder more!" Luna moaned, Erasiel obliged, his hands grasped her large breasts and squeezed as he pumped her harder and faster, the amount of time he had for said liaison was long enough to not be noticed.

"Luna, Luna Woodsprite, you are an amazing girl your ass is so tight" Erasiel moaned as he thrusted, he had not reached his peak yet but he would soon, he used his hand to pull her upward and he layed back on the bed thrusting into her as he grasped her breasts and fondled them, Luna half moaned half laughed as he had found a tickle spot in her areolas and he traced around them with his finger, he put his head on her shoulder. "So good, too fun, you are- cumming!" Erasiel exclaimed and unloaded inside her.

"UGGH!" Luna moaned in bliss, Erasiel pulled out, then moved over and grasped her legs, which pink wooly stockings kept comfortable. "So now what are you going- AH!" Luna had started to say when Erasiel's tongue was inserted into her loins. "Oh yes" Luna stated seductively. Erasiel kept at this for about four minutes when Luna commented "Man you are wonderful with your tongue"

"I have millennia of experience" Erasiel commented before continuing to eat her out, his hands still massaged her breasts moving them in circles. Then Luna orgasmed leaving gift on Erasiel's lips and sheets which licked clean. "Uhm good taste, now for something else tasty, why don't you try mine" Erasiel stated then flipped over, Luna crawled over and began giving him head, slowly sucking and licking before moving to a more steady pace. "Ooh I'm not the only one with an amazing tongue here" Erasiel commented, Luna blushed and continued her work, Erasiel's phone rang. "Don't worry keep doing it" Erasiel stated and answered his phone. "Hello Erasiel Darkar, here" Erasiel commented.

"Nathan how are things going at Alfea" Darcy stated.

"Rather good at the moment, I'm busy though Darcy, hey are you on lunch break?" Erasiel replied.

"Of course, I am" Darcy stated.

"Well then why don't we have lunch, the White horse, 20 minutes I'll be there, the meal is on my tab" Erasiel commented he noted Luna had wrapped her breasts around his length and was massaging it with them.

"That sounds nice, see you there, class only just ended, I'm guessing you been on your break for how long" Darcy replied.

"10 minutes, got to go see you" Erasiel stated and let loose, a leaving a gooey bukkake on Luna's face and breasts, which she licked clean.

"Yummy, Watermelon flavored" Luna remarked. "I'm glad phoenix sperm tastes like person's favorite fruit or ice Cream" Luna added.

"Good you love it, speaking of cream, I'm thirsty and I need to quench it" Erasiel stated, then pulled Luna onto him, inserting his length into her.

"OH!" Luna moaned.

"Tight so tight, now for my drink" Erasiel commented then began to suck her breasts, Luna's moans intensified as he thrusted into her, his left hand rested in her rear and he stroked her soft black hair with the other; Luna was happy beyond normal.

"OH yes Nathan give me your child, we'll make such amazing kids and we'll love them and care for them" Luna commented, Erasiel blushed and alternated to her right breast and continued to drink, their fun lasted for only a few minutes and soon he unloaded a fresh fertile batch in her womb.

Erasiel stood up. "You never disappoint me Luna you really don't; looking forward to our wedding" Erasiel stated and kissed her on the lips.

"I'm glad you think so, see you" Luna stated as Erasiel redressed and left.

Erasiel causally strode out of the room up the stairwell into the closet and out the door of the store room into Griselda. "What were you doing in there?" Griselda asked sternly.

"None of your business Griselda, also it should be who was I doing, not what I was doing" Erasiel remarked, Luna came out of the room behind him having redressed.

"What were you doing there; you know that- "Griselda stated.

"Like I said none of your business, do anything to Luna and you're grounded" Erasiel stated.

"Fine not my business anyway; besides its lunch period I can't punish students for what they do in that period when they are free to do as they wish" Griselda stated.

Erasiel waited for Luna to be out of Griselda's range and reach, then left after hugging his daughter, he arrived at his Space Strider and flew off to Magix City and within 5 minutes he arrived at the White Horse, it was an interesting restaurant, usually during the afternoons he could rely on Bloom being there and on Weekends having just gotten the job about two days ago after the whole Red Fountain debacle. The building was of a fine architecture with a large marble statue of a horse atop a sign which said "White Horse Dinner, finest cuisine in Magix City" Erasiel was cline to dispute that claim as Hex Café's food rivaled the Horse's own, but that may have been due to personal preference. The Owner of the restaurant. Greta was a former student of Alfea and young about 6 years older than Bloom, she was also the manager and chief cashier, she was a tall dark haired fairy with light skin and a soft complexation, her hair was worn in a long ponytail, she was beautiful and had lovely purple eyes, her figure was well-endowed she had DD cup breasts, her choice of attire consisted in a red blouse with the image of a white horse on it, long black skirt and long red silk stockings and black high-heeled boots of the kind worn by Icy usually. Greta and him had a relationship, one that came from fact of knowing her parents and having taught both of them during the Ancestral War, her mother Lotus a Lynphean fairy had gone to Alfea while her father Lawrence Goodworth was a wizard whom Erasiel tutored from Magix, both had married after the Battle of Seven Springs. Erasiel had parked his Space Strider and had barely finished putting away the riding suit when Darcy arrived, her Space Strider had been heavily modified by her since he got it for her last year, and the purple suit suited her curves well, she dismounted from the bike after turning it off and removed her helmet allowing her dark brown hair to flow in the midday autumn breeze. "Hey handsome" Darcy greeted.

"Hey beautiful" Erasiel replied then stepped over to her and kissed her on the lips. "Good lips, anyway lets go in a lovely meal awaits curtesy of yours truly" Erasiel remarked after breaking the kiss.

The two of them entered the restaurant, the number of people was relaxed do to it being a slow day, Gretta was at the counter and smiled as Erasiel and Darcy entered. "Good to see you Nathan, welcome back to the White Horse, what can I do for you" Gretta greeted.

"Table for two please" Erasiel stated.

"Right this way" Gretta replied and led them to a nearby table the two sat down. "Your waitress will be here shortly" Gretta noted. Erasiel and Darcy smiled at each other then held hands.

"So, how's your day going?" Darcy asked Erasiel.

"Good actually, a new member has joined the Winx, I've done an amazing job as co-teacher and Amaryl tried to throw a plasma sphere at Stella during Palladium's class" Erasiel replied.

"Well I'm glad to see your having an interesting day, my day has been well slightly interesting, the only thing of note that happened was when Endora accidently turned herself into a frog in Alchemy" Darcy replied.

"How did she manage that" Erasiel asked.

"Too much wart root and she put in a frog's eye instead of a wolf's eye" Darcy replied.

"I see, well at least it will wear off in about 3 hours" Erasiel replied.

"Yep, though the humiliation from the whole thing will be hard to get thru" Darcy commented

A Waitress walked up, Erasiel recognized her as Artesia, who had the day off from Red Fountain in the wake of the whole attack, classes had been put on a week hiatus due to the investigation by the Wizard's council into the incident, because most of the Professors were on said Council classes were out of the picture.

"Hey Darcy, hey handsome" Artesia greeted.

"Hey Artesia, nice seeing you here" Darcy replied.

"Good to see you too, now can I get you any drinks, here are your menus try and find what suits your fancy" Artesia stated.

"Root Beer for me" Erasiel stated.

"Diet Coke" Darcy replied.

"Good I'll get those and be back to you" Artesia stated and then walked away, shaking her large rear at Erasiel as a minor flirt, granted Erasiel and Artesia were in the serious relationship and he enjoyed said rear, each time he and Artesia had the luxury of time for sex.

"You know she is teasing you" Darcy replied. "Any point in time when you and I will get it on" Darcy remarked.

"When you and I marry, that's when, I have my reasons for that, specifically your mother told me if I tried anything with you or your sisters before marriage she would castrate me, and I would hate to have to suicide myself just to get my man parts back" Erasiel responded.

"My mother was far too concerned about this, the day I meet her I will have long and serious talk with her about this very subject" Darcy replied, Artesia returned with their drinks.

"So, I've heard that the Tri School Magic Tournament is coming up soon" Artesia commented.

"Yes that, something that only happens every four years, that will be interesting, I personally am rooting for Cloud Tower to win" Darcy commented. "In fact, I'm going to compete and make sure we win" Darcy added. "So which school's team are you on?" Darcy asked Erasiel.

"Usually I'd be rooting for Cloud Tower but this time it will be for Alfea, I've got a job there and I intend for Bloom to push herself to win, however I'll be rooting for you and your sisters to be Cloud Tower's best" Erasiel replied. "As for my order Artesia, my usual if you will" Erasiel commented.

"I will do that Darcy what do you want?" Artesia asked.

"I'll take the steak, well-done hold the lightning; and extra fries and oh and get me fry sauce and another Diet Coke I'll be done with this one by the time my food is ready" Darcy commented.

"Can do: anything else?" Artesia replied.

"Yes Artesia, after school you and I need some S and R" Erasiel commented.

"Gladly Nathan" Artesia replied, with a mischievous grin, a wink, and a nudge of her glasses before moving on to the next table

"So, do you ever have an off button when it comes to your libido?" Darcy asked.

"Nope; trust me Darcy you don't know the half of it" Erasiel replied and began to gorge himself on the meal, he was hungry, and Darcy also ate her meal while he did so.

Meanwhile at Alfea… Tecna was moving about the hallway, heading to the library to return some books, when she noticed something, Professor Avalon, walking past her which would've been normal apart from the fact she could see him in the courtyard from the window overlooking it, there was something fishy a foot, it became weirder when another Avalon came into view and then another, Tecna bolted, heading towards the library and entered panting to the chagrin of Librarian Barbatea who was reading. "Tecna? This is a surprise, what happened you look like you've seen a ghost" Barbatea commented.

"I've seen something, something worth researching, here take these, I'm checking them in and- "Tecna explained when the bell rang. "Crap Lunch is over; I'll be back later, got to get to Alchemy before Professor Gelt tans my hide about being late" Tecna stated dropping the books on the counter.

Back at the White Horse… Erasiel had paid the bill and tipped Artesia an absurd amount of somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,500 Magix Dollars before running out the door and high tailing it to Space Strider, Darcy followed behind him and mounted her Bike, both of them took off and flew in opposite directions, Darcy to Cloud Tower and Erasiel to Alfea.

Shortly…. "Welcome students once more to Alchemy class, today we will studying the advances made by the alchemists of the Silver Cities of Ashan, I will be demonstrating some of their discoveries, take notes on this, there will be an exam on this in two weeks" Professor Gelt introduced in his echoing metallic voice, his golden face mask caused the effect, Erasiel entered.

"My apologies my esteemed college I had an enjoyable lunch in Magix City, I'm here now and ready to assist in the lesson" Erasiel explained,

"Students I'm sure you are familiar by now with Professor Darkar" Professor Gelt stated, the girls looked at him if it were a cartoon most would have hearts in place of eyes and hearts floating around them.

"I know a lot of them very well Balthazar, enough for the purposes of teaching anyway, Zing, Livy if you two would be inclined I am in need of your assistance when it comes to bringing me ingredients, I will showing you the roads of advanced alchemy" Erasiel replied, the two Pixies hovered above his shoulders.

"Where we're going we don't need roads" Zing shouted turning into a costume of Doc from Back to the Future II only with her hair staying normal.

"Doctor Emmett Brown; Back to the Future Part II" Erasiel replied. "Also, you're going to have to try harder to stump me with your costumes" Erasiel stated, Zing laughed, this was a new thing, whenever he made a relevant remark Zing would turn into a costume of a character from a different setting to make a pop culture reference where upon Erasiel would guess it. "Forgive my bonded pixie, she and I are merely playing a game, anyway we are covering the advances made in the Silver Cities; very queer mages them, they think they are gods and thus don't believe in them; silly humans" Erasiel remarked, Gelt then went into detail and the class began in earnest, the lesson proved rather simple for Erasiel, the so called advances made by the Silver Cities were in his opinion the work of 8 year old Phoenix alchemist which meant it took him virtually no time in concocting the relevant potions. Erasiel noted Tecna however was out of sorts during the class as she seemed like she was focused on something else; anyway Alchemy was an easy class to teach from Erasiel's perspective, and certainly a worth job for a Grandmaster Gold Wizard like Balthazar Gelt, though something like that was somewhat beneath his station though he wasn't a noble but rather someone of middle class birth, any rate Gelt enjoyed his job it was a lot easier compared to dealing with the politics of the Empire or the constant bickering of the Colleges of Magic.

The rest of the classes proved rather normal and as far as Erasiel was concerned boring; Erasiel noted Tecna leaving for the Library and followed her and watched what she was doing, when she brought a large book and planted it on the table and began to read it. "Well Tecna what are you reading?" Erasiel asked after he got bored of watching.

"Anthropomorphic Winged Monsters by Serius Facetus" Tecna replied.

"Interesting choice of reading" Erasiel replied.

"Yes indeed, right now I'm going thru a number of creatures before doing my research on Phoenixes" Tecna stated.

"Research on Phoenixes? Tecna if you wanted info on Phoenixes you can ask me on that topic I know more about it than any writer could have, speaking of writer Serius Facetus rings a bell but can't place it right now, anyway, feel free to read all you want I've got other matters to attend to" Erasiel stated, then left the library followed by Luna who had seen him enter and followed him out leaving her things there.

Erasiel had only gotten few inches from the library before Luna grabbed him. "Hey Nathan, listen I'm in need of more" Luna stated then kissed him, Erasiel obliged and went into the storeroom and strode into the hallway behind the secret passage as it shut behind them, before entering the private room, Luna dropped her pants and kicked off her shoes wearing her shirt which she hiked up removing her bra exposing her breasts, Erasiel disrobed completely. "I figured I'd leave the shirt on just not all the way on to spice things up" Luna explained as Erasiel picked her up and pressed her against the wall, he lock lips with her as he entered her tight clitoris and began to thrust into her as he stood with her legs wrapped around her. Erasiel then broke the kiss and began to drink from her left breast as Luna moaned.

Meanwhile… Bloom entered Professor Avalon's office where he sat drinking a glass of tea. "Ah Bloom it is good to see you, come in, I trust you are here to talk about your dreams" Avalon stated.

"Yes, I have" Bloom responded.

"Well good, take a seat and have a cup of tea, just made it myself theirs a bit of vanilla mixed into it with the sugar" Avalon stated, Bloom did as he said and sat down, Avalon powered her glass of tea; the tea set was rather elaborate and decorated extensively with images of suns and with miniature figurines of dragons the set was colored yellow with a bit of silver mixed in, the figurines where made out of sapphire, the pot was the most lavish though the 12 glasses were equally refined. "It's a fine tea set made of Religite Porcelain, won't break not even if you hit with a steel Warhammer not even a scratch the Warhammer will break before the pot does, it was a gift given to me by my seventh Brood-Mate on our anniversary a couple years ago" Avalon explained.

"That's nice, what did you get her" Bloom responded.

"Two statues of ourselves made of Sapphire, finest craftsmanship on my part, I'm a jeweler as a hobby" Avalon explained. "But enough about me Bloom, let's do the first stage when it comes to Dream studying, knowing more about you that way I've got information to work with, no sense in looking thru your dreams if I can't understand them without context" Avalon stated.

"Well alright; but it will be a long story" Bloom stated.

"I have all the time in the world, do you have time though" Avalon replied.

"I do, I don't start work at the White Horse until tomorrow" Bloom stated.

"Excellent now let's start out with your life's story who are you, where do you come from, what has led you here to where you are now" Avalon explained, this would be a long session.

Meanwhile Tecna did more research and Digit hovered over to her along with Livy. "Anything interesting Tecna?" Digit asked.

"Yes this, the Angel of Doom: long ago a dark creature came into being taking the form of an angel of destruction, it has three forms one of a normal man, that of an Angel of Light and that of its true form a monster of pitiless destruction, it leads legions of monstrous warriors into battle with tar black skin and clad in armor made from titanium, anyway the creature comes from a place called the Illuminating World and searches for lands to conquer, it will masquerade as one of their own to perceive what is missing and mirror himself among the people appearing to be everywhere at once, after it is sure about it's target the creatures that serve it will attack the people, and it will wait, then when the people are desperate it takes the form of the Angel of Light and comes to the people as a savior and then when victory seems certain it takes its true form and binds those it faces to its will; the creature only appears when three sacred planets arrive those worlds are Orez, Fallat, and Rot whenever they align over a world it goes forth" Tecna stated.

"So, what does this mean anyway Tecna" Livy asked.

"I think Professor Avalon is the Angel of Doom" Tecna replied.

"But he is Erasiel's cousin, why do you think he's some force of destruction?" Livy replied.

"Because everything I've seen him do matches up with what the Angel of Doom is described as doing, I've got to be sure though, you two come with me, I'm going to ask Headmistress Faragonda what she knows about the three sacred planets, oh and don't tell Nathan he wouldn't believe me" Tecna replied, then left the library at a run, she bolted past Griselda sending her spinning, she spun faster when Livy bolted past her.

"No running in the halls!" Griselda yelled, Erasiel exited the storage closet in front of her followed by Luna.

"Father what were you doing in there!?" Griselda yelled.

"Where has the time gone, no time for chit-chat darling I've got something else on my agenda and it doesn't involve you, Luna follow me" Erasiel stated and the two of them ran past her,

"No running in the halls!" Griselda yelled.

"Shut up Griselda!" Erasiel yelled back.

"He's got you there Colonel" Zing commented in a US Airmen's uniform from World War II, complete with hat.

"Sergeant Carter; Hogan's Heroes" Griselda replied.

"Darn it why are you so pop culture literate, for goodness sake you barely do anything but yell at people nonstop" Zing remarked turning back into her normal appearance.

"I have a lot of free time" Griselda stated as Zing sulked off defeated again, Griselda smirked, and Kerborg threw a pie at her and laughed.

"Ha! ha!" Kerborg laughed.

"Very unoriginal Kerborg" Griselda remarked. "Also Immature for a Faceless who is over five billion years old" she added.

"I'll stop with the pranks when you stop being a stuck-up Half Phoenix who thinks she knows everything" Kerborg stated then flew off.

Meanwhile… Faragonda sat at her desk reviewing the day's paperwork which she had just finished to make sure it was in order and had just finished doing so when the door to her office opened and Tecna stood in the doorway. "Ah Tecna come in, what do you need" Faragonda asked, moving her glasses which had fallen slightly of her nose.

"I need some information; do you know any astronomers?" Tecna asked.

"Yes, I do indeed know many astronomers, but I'm guessing you need someone nearby, if that is the case I would recommend seeing my sister Headmistress Griffin at Cloud Tower, she keeps accurate studies of the planets and stars in the Magic Dimension" Faragonda replied.

"Thanks Headmistress, that's all I needed" Tecna stated and then left.

"The inquisitiveness of Tecna never ceases to amaze me" Faragonda said to herself, then sorted the paperwork and noted the picture on her desk, that of Erasiel. "I wonder what you're up to Erasiel" Faragonda commented. "Probably nothing out of the usual" she then thought, then picked up her book and continued reading, before casting a spell to summon tea which she drank.

Tecna ran out into the courtyard, followed by the two Pixies then turned into her Charmix and took off, as she flew towards Cloud Tower she noted Erasiel's Space Strider in the distance. "Any idea what he's up to" Tecna commented to Livy.

"He's off to meet with Artesia" Livy commented after asking over her link.

"Well that will put him out of the picture for a bit, hopefully I can get the information to prove Professor Avalon isn't who he seems to be" Tecna stated as she flew up to Cloud Tower. Entering the school was easy enough, she did receive glares from some of the students, but a familiar face stopped them.

"Tecna? What are you doing here?" Darcy commented.

"Darcy, I need to see Headmistress Griffin, I need her advice on something" Tecna replied.

"Ok if you insist, I'll lead you to her" Darcy replied and then led Tecna up the stairs and guided her thru The Maze of a Thousand Paths which guarded the entrance to Cloud Tower from the lobby, only witches knew the true paths thru the illusions, them and Phoenixes.

While Tecna had arrived at Cloud Tower, Erasiel had arrived at Red Fountain and parked his Space Strider, he moved thru the courtyard, noted Prince Sky and gave him the bird then left before the Prince noticed and dashed thru the halls, bumped into Kordatura and gave her a kiss before continuing into the school, heading for Artesia's room, which he knocked on.

"Hey Nathan, I've got a surprise for you" Artesia commented seductively, Erasiel opened the door and entered the room before noting the surprise. Artesia's room was candlelit by red light, the atmosphere was quite romantic but that wasn't the main focus of his attention, it was that both Artesia and Riven were on the bed laying on their chests in seductive outfits that left little the imagination, and both had a rose in their hand. Artesia's outfit consisted of a rose red lace bra with two strings with a matching thong as well as a garter belt of the same color which held up silk stockings while Riven's outfit was dark purple and consisted of a revealing bodice, a thong, a garter belt and last stockings, both had their hair styled in a romantic fashion, Riven's magenta hair was the same as on their first date while Artesia's crimson hair was in her usual style, her glasses in a romantic shape, both wore a large amount of makeup that was usually out of character, at least for Riven.

"Well this a surprise alright" Erasiel stated as he began disrobing.

"Riven and I talked earlier, after class and well- "Artesia began to explain.

"Decided that it has been a while since we last had sex with you and figured why not have a threesome" Riven finished. "So, we went to all this effort to make sure you had this; FYI Kordatura helped with this; after we're done with you she wants you in her room" Riven stated.

"I see I figured Kordatura helped with this" Erasiel noted as he now stood in all his glory with his feather tail flowing fine with feathers around his loins in swaying as his phallus became fully erect.

"Also, she has a surprise for you when we are done" Artesia commented, Erasiel wondered what that could be, then moved over to the bed and striped his two girlfriends of their clothing bar the garter belts and stockings, they both smelled of rose perfume.

Erasiel eased onto the bed as both Riven and Artesia grabbed his arms, Erasiel stretched out his legs sitting with them outstretched, both Artesia and Riven kissed his cheeks, Artesia licking them with her tongue, Erasiel grabbed Riven and eased her forward and unto his length, inserting it into her tight vagina, despite him having taking her virginity about a year previously, two months after they starting dating she was still quite tight, Riven moaned as he entered her, Erasiel faced Artesia and began to drink from her left breast, as he did so Riven moaned as she moved up and down, then wrapped her legs around him, the soft stockings were enjoyable. While Erasiel sucked from Artesia's breasts like a nursing babe Artesia was running her hands thru his tail feathers. "So soft, your tail is so soft" Artesia cooed, then kissed his forehead, she was wet. Soon Erasiel reached his limit and let a load into Riven's womb, the sterile variety not a kid making variety as he restrained that, he stopped sucking Artesia and pulled out of Riven, then her proceeded to grab Artesia and bend her over, her large ass was impressive he clenched the large cheeks of said rear end before entering it, it wasn't as impressive as Bloom's something that while he hadn't even touched it he still considered it to be the perfect ass something that was well unrivaled. Artesia moaned as he entered her the feathers on his testicles soft against her tail, Riven kissed him her tongue in full control as Erasiel was focused on Artesia's rear end and massaging Riven's ample DD-cup breasts which were soft despite her athletic body.

"All this enjoyment" Erasiel thought. "Bliss, Praise Asha and her holy bosom for delivering all this bounty to me" he mentally thanked.

Meanwhile… While Erasiel busied himself in pleasures of the flesh; Tecna had reached Griffin's office. "Tecna; interesting that my sister sent you here what does Faragonda want now?" Griffin stated a bit dismissive.

"Nothing, she actually sent me to you because she said you were a primer expert on astronomy" Tecna stated, Griffin smiled and stood up.

"Indeed, I am, what do you wish to know?" Griffin responded, happy that her favorite hobby was brought up, she smiled even more when she remembered the many times she and Erasiel had gone star gazing only for them to end up making love under the starlight, on Graynor, on Magix, on Delacour, and on many other worlds besides.

"I want to know if some planets are in alignment" Tecna stated.

"Ah I see, follow me, I have an observatory" Griffin stated then lead Tecna along, her purple hair flowing as she walked.

She and Tecna soon arrived at her observatory, which was about 4 floors up and was out of the way, it was an addition to the school that had been made when she started teaching at Cloud Tower and she expanded it when she became headmistress about 200 years prior, it was up to date with the greatest in astronomical instruments, she also had holograms of galactic maps which were constantly being updated with new information. "This is my observatory, my husband provided the money for it and saw to it that Headmistress Breylna established it under instructions from the Wizard's council, you will find it suitable for any observations, now which planets are you interested in?" Griffin explained and then asked.

Tecna paused before remembering their names. "Orez, Fallot and Rot" Tecna replied.

"Ah them, those planets, their alignment is stated to bring bad luck; well let's see" Griffin stated.

"So, when was the last time they were in alignment?" Tecna stated as Griffin moved the telescope to the right position, in spite of broad daylight the telescope was powerful enough to see thru the atmosphere and the sun to whichever position she needed to view.

"The last time Orez, Fallot and Rot aligned was 17 years ago, that was worst luck that alignment had, the faced Domino; and the day they were in alignment Domino was attacked and destroyed by the Ancestresses, they also faced Malagoy and the Paladin Academy along with the city of Carnax were destroyed by legions of a powerful warlord" Griffin stated, then faced the worlds and frowned. "Tecna they are indeed in alignment and they are facing Magix" Griffin stated.

"Are you sure" Tecna asked.

"See for yourself" Griffin replied, Tecna looked into the telescope and noted the worlds were indeed in alignment and indeed facing Magix. "That is a bad omen; but by the looks of things they've been in alignment for some time a month at most, the alignment lasts about 10 months and won't happen again in Magix's direction for about 300 years; most likely the bad thing that is happening is Abolithon's rise to power, they will be over Alfea at 11:45 tonight though if you're interested in that" Griffin stated.

"You think anything else could happen?" Tecna asked looking away from the telescope.

"Anything could happen Tecna; but that isn't necessarily a guarantee: the last time they faced Magix nothing of significance happened for the entire ten-month period, though the time before that the Ancestresses armies attempted to invade but were driven back by the armies of House Darkar" Griffin stated.

"Thanks Headmistress, that's all I needed" Tecna stated and began to leave.

"If you ever have need of my knowledge of Astronomy again don't hesitate to ask; I'm more than happy to help those with an interest in the stars" Griffin stated as Tecna left.

"Don't worry I will" Tecna replied. As she continued down the hall she thought to herself. "I just remembered I can't have Nathan near Avalon during this whole thing, I've got to side-track him to make sure he doesn't get in the way of my investigation" Tecna stated.

"How are you going to do that?" Digit asked.

"Trust me I know exactly how to distract him, he is a nymphomaniac, ergo I just need to have someone keep him busy; now let me think, can't do it myself for obvious reasons though I intend to after this is all over, it's been too long since we last well did each other; not Katy or Luna, they've already had their fun with him today, not Anastasia or Lin Poo, nor Heidi or Miky their too busy, maybe Kylie but she's got extra activities besides I'm not sure about them having banged yet, wait I know; Mirta!" Tecna replied, then pulled out her cellphone and dialed Mirta's number.

Mirta who was preforming her calisthenics in her exercise garb answered on the second ring. "Mirta Lusar soon to be Mirta Darkar soon; who is it" Mirta greeted

"Hey Mirta, it's me Tecna; I need you to do something for me" Tecna stated.

"Well shoot; I'm in the middle of my exercise though so I'll have to finish that first" Mirta replied preforming a flourish with her baton.

"I need you to distract Erasiel, just for a few hours" Tecna requested.

"Distract him, gladly I mean to ask him something anyway" Mirta stated

"Thanks, Mirta, bye" Tecna replied and hung up, Mirta smirked.

"Good now we have to tell the others" Tecna commented

Meanwhile at Red Fountain.. Erasiel continued to enjoy himself; busying himself with Riven's rear now, Artesia busied herself by burying his head in her bosom, Erasiel was still in bliss, the concept of leaving was completely out of his head, soon another orgasm and soon he was ready, within a matter of minutes both Artesia and Riven lay passed out. "That was enjoyable" Erasiel remarked after dressing, his phone rang. "Erasiel" he answered.

"Hey Nathan, it's me Mirta want to spend some time together when you get back to Alfea" Mirta stated.

"Yes, that would be lovely" Erasiel responded. "Now to see what Kordatura has in store" Erasiel stated leaving the room.

Back at Alfea… "So that's everything that's happened to me up to this point Professor Avalon" Bloom stated.

"Good, I have more than enough information to work with" Avalon stated then pulled out a crystal. "This Crystal stores large amounts of information and is a powerful supercomputer, it can access any sort of information, with it I will be able to bring up your entire family tree; now hold out your hand" Avalon instructed, Bloom did so, Avalon jabbed the crystal into the palm of her hand, drawing blood, which the crystal absorbed, the cut if made healed over completely in a matter of seconds. Soon the crystal hummed turning from blue to green before projecting a hologram, the hologram showed a large tree, Bloom noted the tree, there was her sister Daphne, herself, a young man about her age with curly brown hair she didn't recognize and above them her parents Orital and Marion; next to each of them were their siblings, and her grandparents on both sides, above it was the crest of her family. "As you can see this image shows your entire family in the current three generations; above it is the crest of the royal family: the Dracarnions; here you can see yourself Bloom Dracarnion, your older sister Daphne and your twin brother Thoren" Avalon stated. "Above them you can see your parents, Orital Dracarnion and Marion Essentar, and their siblings, your fathers three older brothers two older sisters and his four younger sisters, and on your mother's side her 19 sisters; and above them you can see your grandparents for both sides" Avalon explained.

"So, wait; I have a brother?!" Bloom asked.

"According to this yes, however it is uncertain where he is now according to my knowledge; though his whereabouts are unknown to me; you might want to ask Erasiel about that" Avalon stated.

"I intend to, in fact I'm calling him right now" Bloom stated and pulled out her cellphone.

Erasiel moved towards Kordatura's room when he heard his cellphone ring, he checked his caller ID and noted it was Bloom and answered, "Hello" Erasiel greeted.

"Nathan! It's me Bloom, why didn't you tell me I have a brother" Bloom stated.

"Hi Bloom, oh yes that; well I had my reasons chief among them being I was not certain at the time you were his sister; but the reason it slipped my mind, I was too busy the last six months trying to find the Trix and on top of that now I have Abolithon to worry about, another thing you never asked, but don't worry Bloom; I can say though beyond a shadow of a doubt that you do have Twin Brother and his name is Thoren, you are the older twin so thereby the rightful heir, I will introduce you to him after the whole Abolithon crisis is resolved until then you'll have to wait to meet him" Erasiel explained.

"Are you sure I can't meet him now" Bloom asked.

"Quite, he has his schooling too, he is training at Solaria's Star Academy, there he is studying to become a Paladin in addition to him being an already powerful Battle Mage, trust me Bloom your brother is just as busy as you are if not more so, he is in safe hands; he's been raised at court by King Radius, if you want to know more about him you should ask Stella they're childhood friends" Erasiel replied.

"Thanks; I'm going to ask her now" Bloom stated and hung up.

"I can't believe he kept this secret from me" Bloom stated.

"My cousin keeps many secrets Bloom, if anything he was doing so for his safety as much as yours, mostly to keep your brother focused on his studies and you on yours trust me he would have told you about him sooner but Erasiel has his priorities, somethings take the hindmost" Avalon stated.

"Well I guess he didn't mean any harm, honestly I probably could have found about this is I asked him, in fact speaking of asking I'll be back later Professor" Bloom stated.

"Alright, come back tomorrow and we can examine your dreams, it will take me some time to look things over" Avalon replied, Bloom left.

After she was out of earshot Avalon smirked. "You interest me Bloom, you will certainly interest Lord Abolithon more though" he thought.

Meanwhile Erasiel had arrived at Kordatura's room to receive a large gift basket from Kordatura who wore a more casual outfit then her usual armor. "Congrats on your new job, and the first day on it, thought I'd give you a gift, now for your surprise, my sister Helia has expressed interest in you and wants to go on a date, she had my full support but I'm going along as a chaperone just to keep things in order; it's a dinner date though" Kordatura stated.

"Thanks for the gift basket; gladly I will be there what time?" Erasiel asked.

"White Horse; tomorrow at 6:00 don't be late, after that we are going to a movie, I booked tickets for the 8:00 showing of Dance of the Dragons III: Domino's Glory so it will be late by the time you get back to Alfea" Kordatura explained.

"Great see you there" Erasiel commented then kissed his wife on the cheek.

"Don't be late; also, Orez, Fallot and Rot are in alignment again so don't break any bones" Kordatura commented.

"Great those three" Erasiel thought. "I won't trust me, a war herd of Beastmen won't delay me" Erasiel joked, then left, he headed to his Space Strider and used a quick spell to teleport the basket to his office, then he dawned the jumpsuit and started the engine before putting on his helmet, a number of nearby specialist watched with mixed reactions, from some of the guys was jealousy of his ride, from the other sheer awe, from the ladies however all were looking at him with interest, he took off leaving the flying school. "Kerborg I think those architects I hired to rebuild Red Fountain did an amazing job" Erasiel stated to the faceless who was flying alongside him.

"I agree my lord, it is a marvel of engineering" Kerborg stated.

"And importantly I didn't have to pull any strings in the Wizard's Council to do it" Erasiel commented. "You know there are certain things I'm glad about Kerborg, one is that so far I'm having a pleasant day, and two is that the Water Stars have been destroyed for such a long time, it would a nasty thing for the two of us to die permanently" Erasiel stated.

"How long have they been destroyed for anyway my lord" Kerborg stated.

"At this point 12 and half Billion years, given they were all destroyed not too long after the Universe came into being; we before either of us were born anyway" Erasiel stated.

"Any chance that there are some that still exist" Kerborg noted.

"Nope, the Greater Phoenixes and the Elder Dragons and those Phoenixes of the first generation saw to that" Erasiel stated.

"Good thing too" Kerborg noted and both laughed.

"Usually I'm for balance but something as dangerous as the Water Stars just cannot be allowed to exist some lunatic might have used them as superweapon" Erasiel commented.

"Agreed my lord" Kerborg stated. "Anything else you're happy about my lord" Kerborg asked.

"Well my Space Strider is as awesome as ever, Kerborg race you to Alfea!" Erasiel challenged then hit the accelerator on his bike, the Space Strider's exhaust in Kerborg's face, as the Faceless moved to match it in speed.

Meanwhile at Alfea… Tecna sat on her bed thinking of how best to convince the other Winx to help her with her plan to expose Avalon's secret, at the moment Zing and Digit were playing a game of tag with Chatta and Glim; all of them were running for Zing who was it; she was dressed in a red pirate suit, with a red hat an eye-patch and a red beard, Bloom walked into the room with Lockette hovering next to her. "Redbeard from Scooby-Doo Where Are You; you're going to have to try harder Zing" Bloom stated.

"Yarrgh, ye found me out you land-lubber" Zing said in her best pirate accent before turning back to her regular self and tagged Lockette on the forehead. "Tag your it!" Zing stated to Lockette before flying off.

"Really; Zing! I'll get you!" Lockette stated flying after Zing.

"At least the Pixies are having fun, what's wrong Tecna everyone else is out and about and you are here in your room" Bloom commented, Tecna frowned then looked up.

"Bloom I have something to tell you, but I'm not sure you'd believe me" Tecna stated honestly.

"Don't worry Tecna you can tell me, that's what friends are for; what is it" Bloom stated interested.

"Well I will tell you, but promise you won't tell Erasiel ok, and by extension Stella or Chatta because they'll blab about it" Tecna replied reluctantly.

"Alright but why not tell Nathan about this?" Bloom replied.

"Because he wouldn't believe me; the gist of it is that Professor Avalon isn't who he seems to be; I have it on evidence that he might be the Angel of Doom; and if he his Alfea could be in terrible danger" Tecna stated. "And before you ask I can't tell Faragonda or Griselda because they'd tell Erasiel, I don't think he'd believe me anyway" Tecna stated.

"Tecna, you should have told me sooner, why are you worried Nathan won't believe you; you two are well- "Bloom started to say.

"Banging each other's brains out whenever no one's around to see it, it has nothing to do with us fucking each other when we are given alone time" Tecna said bluntly, "No its that well him and Avalon are cousins, who's he more likely to believe, a fairy he's only known for about a year now or a cousin whom he's known for millennia" Tecna stated, Bloom was taken aback by what she had said, first off was that she was right, Avalon was indeed Erasiel's cousin, so Erasiel would be more inclined to believe family; second was that news that Erasiel and Tecna were intimate; she knew they were close but not that close, she also knew people on Zenith had different views on relationships then people on Earth, also was a tad bit of jealously but it was minor; very minor: in fact it was so minor that it that it was like a grain of sand in the Sahara Desert.

"I see Tecna, you're worried that he won't believe you, also I knew you two were close but not that close; he is- I was going to say older then you, but he's an immortal being and so are you, so age really doesn't have an impact on that; still though its- weird" Bloom stated.

"Don't tell Stella about that, I've told Flora and Mirta but they can keep a secret, Stella is well a sink from which gossip pours out like a waterfall from a glacier on Zenith, which by the way is eternal given that glaciers on Zenith never truly melt; by the way Bloom if you ever come to Zenith dress for winter; you'll need to my home world is an ice planet, anyway, thanks for keeping this secret" Tecna stated.

"So how long have you and Nathan been well- doing it" Bloom asked.

"Since the battle of Magix, after the destruction of Red Fountain and before we headed to Domino; I lost count of how many times we've had sex, also I don't have to worry about getting pregnant, Phoenixes can control the fertility of their seed, in other words Erasiel and I can have children at our own pace" Tecna stated.

"Wow that's interesting, you know on Earth the age gap would be a problem" Bloom commented.

"Not on Zenith, or on most worlds in the Magic Dimension, the age of consent is 14 on most worlds in keeping with the Phoenix age of consent, a Phoenix matures to a full adult at 14 as they grow faster than humans or other races; other than that, there are some other things about Phoenixes though you should look at the library for more, I recommend Sirius Facetus's Anthropomorphic Winged Creatures; it's a good read" Tecna commented.

"Nice I'll have to read it sometime; anyway, I'm going now, I'll be playing a game of Warhammer Fantasy battles with Flora and probably get my butt kicked, ever since I taught Flora how to play the game she's become an expert in it and beat me very consistently" Bloom stated.

"Yes, at a ratio of 67% by my calculations" Tecna commented.

"How do you know that?" Bloom replied.

"By the amount of times Flora comes to tell me she's won, and by the amount of times you cheer that you've won and swear when you lose" Tecna remarked. "Anyway, I've got to deal with Avalon, I'll need your help with it, you will be the bait, then I'll get the others on board and we'll ambush him" Tecna commented.

"That sounds like a bad plan, what if Avalon is the Angel of Doom, don't you think he would easily kick our butts, and if he isn't the same thing would happen" Bloom commented.

"That's a risk we'll have to take" Tecna replied.

While this conversation had been underway Erasiel had landed in the courtyard. "Move that you can't park there" Griselda complained.

"Shut it Griselda, I always park there and on top of that I'm your father by the way and the head of the Wizard's Council, you don't get to lecture me or boss me around" Erasiel commented, then walked pass her. "Kerborg keep an eye on my Space Strider, make sure Griselda doesn't move it, also if she tells you to don't listen" Erasiel ordered, said Faceless flew off his shoulder and landed on the seat of the Space Strider. Erasiel turned to Griselda and said, "There now I've got other things to tend to, that reminds me: Gripmaw!" the other Faceless came to attention in his true form.

"Yeah boss?" Gripmaw replied.

"Keep an eye on Griselda, if she tries following me you have my authority to obstruct her by any means necessary" Erasiel ordered.

"I'll do that boss" Gripmaw responded then turned to Griselda and grinded his fists together. "Make my day" Gripmaw challenged. Erasiel left going inside Alfea and proceeded thru the hallways till arriving in Mirta's dorm, where he found her in her most seductive underwear.

While Erasiel was engaged in wellbeing Erasiel; the sun set over Alfea and Tecna had readied herself for the mission at hand. "Alright Digit, Livy, girls it's time to save Alfea" Tecna stated, then transformed into her Charmix. "Tecna: Fairy of Technology" She commented. The other Winx followed suit, they flew down the hallways where others were sleeping.

Meanwhile Erasiel was dressing after about ten rounds with Mirta, who now was passed out. "that was an enjoyable experience" Erasiel thought, then he kissed Mirta on the forehead, he had dawned his pajamas and walked away. "Now to get some sleep" Erasiel commented to himself holding his staff with a grace, when Zing flew up to him.

"Erasiel; I've got to tell you something important" Zing commented.

"Ok what is it" Erasiel replied.

"Tecna and the other Winx are going after Professor Avalon, Livy told me Tecna believes he's the Angel of Doom in disguise" Zing stated urgently.

"What?!" Erasiel stated then dawned his Instructor's garb and dashed to wake up Faragonda. Erasiel barged into her bedroom. "Wake up! No time to explain, Avalon's in danger!" Erasiel yelled, Faragonda woke up, put on her glasses and slippers and followed him they soon ran into Whizgiz with his projector. "Whizgiz come with us, we need you" Erasiel stated.

"Ah Erasiel what is all this excitement about, wait you'll say its urgent, I'll follow" Whizgiz commented then followed them around pushing the cart with his projector

At the same time the Winx had barged into Avalon's room, he had just finished a shower and had dawned his pajamas. "Ah hello Winx, what are you doing up at this hour, what time is it anyway?" Avalon stated then summoned a watch. "About 11:43 pm, you should be getting some sleep" Avalon commented.

"You're not going to destroy Alfea Angel of Doom!" Tecna commented.

"What? The Angel of Doom? I'm not sure I follow?" Avalon commented.

"Tecna! Wait!" Erasiel yelled running into the room with Faragonda and Professor Whizgiz. "Winx stand down: I don't know what this is about but if you think my Cousin is the Angel of Doom wait 2 minutes and you'll know for certain" Erasiel barked, the Winx formed a circle around Avalon.

Two minutes later; the planets aligned, and nothing happened, another minute passed and still nothing. "I don't understand; I was certain" Tecna stated.

"On what evidence?" Faragonda asked.

"This book" Zing stated flying in with the copy of Anthropomorphic Winged Monsters.

"Also, the fact he matches the description off that prophecy of the Angel of Doom, he rises when the Planets Orez, Fallot and Rot are in alignment which they are now; that he will appear everywhere at once which he has, and that book proves it" Tecna stated.

"Anthropomorphic Winged Monsters by Sirius Facetus" Erasiel stated taking the book from Zing, then he burst into laughter. "Tecna, Sirius Facetus in addition to being a powerful wizard and an expert on magic creatures is also a comedian; this prophesy is a nothing but a crack fic from his comedy standup routines; now as to the alignment of Orez, Fallot and Rot; their alignment does bring bad luck but the case here is clearly an alignment for Abolithon" Erasiel commented.

"But what about the multiple Professor Avalons in the hallway?" Tecna asked.

"Oh that, that would be my fault" Whizgiz explained then turned on the project which displayed a number of copies of Avalon. "You can see I was getting my projector working and Professor Avalon agreed to help me with this; you can see the effect and I apologize for the misunderstanding" Whizgiz explained.

"I see, I've been such an idiot, I've been throwing logic aside for superstition, I'm sorry Professor Avalon" Tecna stated.

"Apology accepted Tecna; now you and your friends should get some sleep you'll have a busy day tomorrow" Avalon stated.

Everyone left the room leaving Avalon be and went to sleep. Later that evening Avalon was still awake. "Lord Abolithon I came close to being exposed, however my cover is still intact and in fact I have gained further trust" Avalon stated.

"Excellent Seraloth, continue your observations, we will bide our time for the moment" Abolithon replied then smirked revealing his sharp teeth.


	34. Arc 2 Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Magic Tournament

Erasiel considered the new day with annoyance so far, a surprise meeting of the Wizard's Council was something that was a mixed bag, either it could be something of extreme importance or was so dull that it made him annoyed. Kerborg had awoken him from a comfortable bed where he and a few faeries, namely Priscilla, Luna and Katy, were comfortably naked having had a pleasurable experience that night, anyway Kerborg told him that Irietta said that there was an urgent meeting of the Wizard's Council. The meeting proved to be in the category of dull, once again a measure for new curriculum and restrictions on students at Magix's schools. "The measure is defeated 56 to 44." Erasiel stated, then turned to the instigator of said vote "Next time Givelian don't invoke a vote on a measure you know won't pass, even more so; don't summon me unless it's a tie breaker: my votes are handled by Irietta in my absence!" Erasiel lectured then turned to the rest of the council. "Meeting adjourned" Erasiel stated then hammered his gavel down on his desk.

Shortly… "I don't understand why they are so opposed to my measure it will improve the curriculum at the schools on Magix and we make sure the students are more focused" Givelian stated to Irietta.

"The reason they are opposed Givelian is that they are in favor of the system as it is now, if it's not broken don't break it" Irietta stated, then left to find Erasiel.

"You know the measure had more support this time" Yerka stated to Givelian.

"Indeed, it did, the only votes that are blocking it are the teachers and Headmasters at the schools, perhaps if they could be influenced to change their position on the issue then it would pass" Givelian stated.

"Practical, however in this case you know they won't change their vote" Yerka replied.

"Perhaps we could change them; the voters I mean; perhaps replace them with more controllable voters" Givelian stated.

"I fail to see how that would be possible" Yerka responded, the gnome's tone indicating his issue with it. "Anyway, there is still the matter of the Head of the Council, what were you thinking in getting him to come here" Yerka added.

"I was trying to gage his opinion on matters; I have other projects I intend to get thru and getting him on side is important" Givelian stated.

"Perhaps he views you with annoyance because of your inexperience and youth" Yerka commented.

"That might be true, I am the youngest member of this council at 144, he is over 3 and half billion years old, but youth doesn't seem to bother him much" Givelian stated. "Anyway, I've got an idea, what if we were to get the headmasters and teachers out of the way and replaced, in other words Yerka get them fired" Givelian stated. "More specifically get Griffin, Saladin and of course Faragonda out of the way, they the biggest opponents of my plan" Givelian stated.

"How do you intend to do that, more importantly who would replace them" Yerka remarked.

"By making the upcoming Tri-Schools Tournament a fiasco so bad they will have to resign in disgrace, as for their replacements, some friends of ours will take their seats on the council, I will assume the position of Headmaster at Alfea and you will do the same at Cloud Tower, you will keep those witches in line" Givelian stated.

"I see, well I'll see what we can do, but what about Darkar, he will refuse to grant those requests" Yerka stated.

"I think I'll be able to get him off the council as well, there is the issue of the Headmistresses of both Alfea and Cloud Tower being his wives, and I'm sure I can obtain some useful information suitable for blackmail" Givelian replied.

"What kind of information would intimidate him, we all know his sexual escapades are common knowledge but his victories in the war of the Ancestresses and his other connections may be an issue" Yerka stated.

"Perhaps a rumor along the lines of him loving his sisters more than one should their siblings; you've seen the way Irietta and Zephyr look at him, the fact that Irietta always leaves to follow him, the fact that she holds hands with him; there's a reason I spoke with her before you, I placed a concealed camera on her dress, it will record everything I need" Givelian stated.

Meanwhile… Erasiel was of course doing exactly what Givelian suspected him of doing; specifically doing Irietta, he was currently drinking from her massive F-cup breasts as he did her missionary style. "Oh Erasiel" Irietta moaned then kissed her brother with soft kisses. While the two were in the heat a small camera recorded from Irietta's dress and was transmitting the footage to a computer. Erasiel and Irietta were too lost in the heat to notice; though if he did he wouldn't really care, the blackmail would not work; he was comfortable with people knowing he loved his two older sisters more than most should, Irietta was his first; his first in love, first in sex, his first threesome was her educating him and Rise in the school of sex, though she was a virgin; his oldest child Shaaradan Escandor Darkar was their son and he was the most powerful warrior in the Magic Dimension. At moment however, he was on top and Irietta was comfortably laying back against a group of brocade pillows with silver threading. "Oh Erasiel; always suckling as a babe, since you were one you've always nursed from me- oh- I love you dearly; I- oh cumming!" Irietta moaned, Erasiel did the same but still continued to thrust into her, and alternated nipples and sucked deeply. Unknown to Givelian he was of course being followed by Faceless who had overheard his plans and were waiting on any order Erasiel would give. Erasiel however was too occupied with banging his sister. "You know Erasiel we are being watched" Irietta whispered.

"I'm aware of that my love; don't worry let Givelian know, I will deal with his footage later" Erasiel whispered back interrupting his nursing then alternating back to another nipple to avoid suspicion, he then unloaded again into her before stopping his nursing and pulling out, he stroked her hair. "I love your hair the most Irietta" Erasiel stated then kissed her, then bent her over and entered her rear. "Oh, so tight, tight as its always been" Erasiel stated then began to slowly thrust, Irietta lay on her breast and folded her arms and rested her head on them before closing her eyes.

"You know Erasiel I'm so relaxed, you know I'll let you ride my ass for days" Irietta commented.

"I could go for days; but you know we only have an hour before I need to get to Alfea; I've got plans for the Tri-School Tournament and I have some plans to make sure Alfea and Cloud Tower excel, I've called in reinforcements to get my star team the Winx ready; someone who won't fail and has gotten a job at Alfea" Erasiel stated.

"Oh, who would that be?" Irietta asked non-challantly, she treated anal sex as if it was a massage, something helped by Erasiel's swooshing of her butt-cheeks which were as big as her breasts.

"One of twelve sisters and she is skilled with swords and wields them, specifically curved swords" Erasiel replied.

"Eldstrom of the Seven Winds, good choice brother" Irietta stated as Erasiel intensified his thrusts. "Oh, this feels like a soothing massage, I'm glad you are so good at this Erasiel" Irietta noted.

"I'm glad you enjoy it; I love you Irietta, more than life itself" Erasiel replied.

"More than Asha?" Irietta teased.

"You know I'll never give you the answer to that" Erasiel commented.

"Of course, I do- ugh- you are so -ugh- predictable" Irietta replied, Erasiel smiled in his head he knew he loved Irietta more than Asha and more than any other woman, though that didn't mean he treated his other love interests differently from Irietta, in fact he treated each and every one as if they were her; even Zephyr. Erasiel eventually unloaded once more creaming Irietta's insides, before pulling out, he then gave one of Irietta's butt-cheeks a playful squeeze before turning her over and inserting himself once more into her loins, they continued for some time before they both flipped over satisfied, Irietta then whispered in his ears. "Now what are going to do with our little spy?" Irietta whispered.

"Don't worry, he won't be able to blackmail us; you know I'm not worried remotely about my feelings for you being public; as to his little camera well" Erasiel replied then whispered in their own language, Irietta smirked.

"Oh, Erasiel could you please be a dear brother and get my dress for me" Irietta stated dramatically.

"Yes, my love" Erasiel stated then kissed her, he then got off the bed and picked up the dress which was more of a mix of toga and a dress, as it left Irietta's arms bare; though those had wraps on them, he handed the dress to Irietta, who shook the dress to even it out before putting it on, causing the spy cam to fall off in the center of the bed.

"Oh dear; Erasiel there's a bug on the bed" Irietta stated, putting on as much of a show of surprise as possible.

"I see Irietta, well what should we do with it" Erasiel replied.

"Smash it into a pulp" Irietta stated, then conjured a small metal rod and bashed the camera into tiny pieces. "Well that stops them from getting more footage, last thing I want is more people see my boobs, or watching me in the bath, I've got a good idea who's behind this; I'm sure it's Givelian, I was talking to him before I looked for you; so, what are you going to do about him" Irietta stated.

"If you suggesting I throw him off the council that would be in poor sport and I keep him on the Council for a reason, he is young and has much to learn about the world, besides at least it makes him think he's important, as to how we are going to deal with his attempt at blackmail, well we are going to preempt him, Irietta inform the council of our relationship and how long it's been going on and that in no terms is it against the rules of the Council nor is it a relationship we will end, also let them know about Zephyr being in on this just in case Givelian tries to blackmail her, but I doubt that will work if he tried, anyway give the news, if the press tries to broadcast it, block them; don't let this leave the city under any circumstances" Erasiel replied, Irietta smiled then left, Erasiel shook himself then stepped to take a bath, came out of the bathroom and then dressed into his training garb.

Erasiel stepped out of the room and walked down to where his Space Strider was parked, he dawned that flight suit and took off, the next step was getting to Alfea, the day was a Saturday but still there was much that needed to be done, specifically preparing a team for the tournament which was about two weeks away, he had already decided that the Winx were the best and thus they needed expert training if they were to compete against the Red Fountain and Cloud Tower teams, speaking of which he had to make sure the Cloud Tower team was ready as well, the Trix would be on it but the other witches on the team would have to be those who were about on par with them in terms of skill and grades; the specialists weren't his problem, Kordatura would see to them, though he was interested in figuring out who was on that team. The events were known to him which was an advantage of being the Head of the Council, the events were changed each time, while he couldn't tell his teams what they were but he could prepare them for said events, the big one he was concerned about was the sword fighting event, the Specialists could easily excel in that challenge something which he was not going to allow, he wanted all three schools to be on a level playing field. This challenge was why he had called in Eldstrom, who had been given a job by Faragonda as the school's resident blade master and head of security, she would also be in charge of teaching the students in the art of sword fighting. Though Palladium had been teaching Bloom well Erasiel was intent on intensifying the training so that she would become a formidable fighter.

Erasiel soon arrived at Alfea and parked in the Courtyard, Griselda was annoyed at his choice of a parking place but did nothing to contest it. Erasiel was joined by a cloaked figure whom he knew to be Eldstrom who had her hood up to surprise the students. It was a Saturday but those picked for the team, those being the best students, had advanced training classes, Palladium was the chief person in charge of non-magic weapons-training and while he was a great teacher in the field he wasn't a true master of the art of swordplay which would be the strong suit of Red Fountain, though he doubted any of a Specialists could beat Stella in that field save perhaps Riven and Artesia but they weren't competing due to Sky being on the team and the two refused to have anything to do with him after last year's debacle. Still the point was that the rest of the Alfea Team apart from Stella and Selene were mid-tier swordswomen at best and low-tier at worst, Eldstrom who was an absolute master of the blade would get them all into shape.

"Griselda do be a dear and fetch the Alfea team, there is someone I want them to meet, and before you say I'm a teacher and you outrank me by being Deputy Headmistress remember I'm Head of the Wizard's Council so I outrank you, so go and get them and have them meet us in the training yard, also tell them to come in their gymnastic attire and if they have a sword bring it with them" Erasiel ordered Griselda, who grunted and went to follow his instructions.

"So, who's that woman with a stick shoved up her butt?" Eldstrom asked.

"That woman happens to be the Deputy Headmistress, don't worry about her, also if she gives you crap inform her mother the Headmistress or me her Father, honestly the way Griselda turned out is so disappointing, she can be such a snob, don't know how that happened, but Griselda isn't someone you'll have to worry about just ignore her if she tells you to do something that you don't agree with do it anyway so that she'll go away" Erasiel replied. "Anyway, your job is well the one you do best, use swords and in this case show people how to use them, also take it easy in normal classes, this training program is for the Tri-School Tournament, different standards apply here than in normal classes, also in both cases remember you are only sparring and don't injure anybody" Erasiel added.

"I understand, I will follow your instructions to letter" Eldstrom replied. "Anyway, how are the rest of my sisters fairing I've not been keeping up with them" Eldstrom asked. Eldstrom was one of 12 sisters each of varying ages who shared the same parents, Eldstrom was the 4th of the 12, her father was killed by raiders who trashed their farm, and were about to rape her, her mother, and her sisters when Erasiel arrived and slaughtered every last brigand single handedly, afterwards her mother, sisters and Eldstrom herself pledged their undying loyalty and love to Erasiel and wedded him, Erasiel raised each of the sisters as a well-trained machine, each mastering a variety of weapons and skills, each looked similar but was a deadly weapon specialist who could dispatch armies by themselves using their skill loadout and were Master Assassins capable of eliminating any target without being discovered or found out. Each of the Sisters was a Dark Elf, not the typical Dark Elves native to Ygg-Chall, the term Dark Elf had different meanings for different types of elves, in this case the term referred to their dark brown skin, each sister was a beauty. The sisters of Eldstrom are as follows from oldest to youngest: Miria, Baethilda, Varna, Seymey, Seraphina, Nina, Elda, Evelyn, Aura, Teresa, Delva, and Miserna. Each was a formidable warrior and their mother was one as well and powerful sorceress her name was Merath, she had about 2 dozen more children with Erasiel with that number open to debate at any time the two decided to have more, the number each sister had varied, but Eldstrom's current number of children sat at a comfortable 7 and she and Erasiel hadn't been in the position to have any more due to the fact that both liked to travel, however Eldstrom was fanatically devoted to Erasiel and would do anything he instructed her to do.

"They are doing good, Seraphina is currently on vacation on Andros with Elda and she sent me pictures earlier on my phone, Miria's still in charge of my royal guard in Scalespire; Evelyn is also in Scalespire she's been missing me and decided to move to where I was, Aura is in Scalespire too and she has been keeping the council on a level headed field keeping those who are interested in their own personal projects and interests from getting support with the newer members, other than that I haven't heard from Miserna or Delva but last I heard from them was a month ago; I sent them to keep an eye on the minor realms in the Magic Dimension and Nina well she's still keeping her eye on Darancar and the rest of Whisperia's Imperial court and she sent me news about that" Erasiel answered. "So on that front not much has changed; Esdeath still isn't married much to Darancar's annoyance, Whisperia's prosperous, the more dangerous and unwelcome parts of the noble class are being assassinated by Night Raid: Esdeath's personal justiciars, and to top it all off Esdeath killed her latest suitor which by the way adds the list of fatalities in the regard to 7, this one however marks the first she's killed personally, the prior six were assassinations carried out by Night Raid" Erasiel added as they continued to stroll inside.

"So, did Esdeath start a war?" Eldstrom asked.

"Nope, the guy's father was angry but not suicidal, it was only his third son anyway, which was the reason she killed him being that this noble thought it would be a good idea to send his third child as a suitable match and Esdeath thought that the proposal was an insult, Darancar can't punish her for either because he took that as insult too and I'm guessing this is to set a precedent don't send your younger sons to marry Esdeath otherwise they will be killed, fortunately the incident is only known to the court, and this guy was internal noble so no international outcry for his death, anyway enough of rambling let's find the Winx, I have to introduce them to you they are the finest students Alfea has ever produced and will be part of the team representing Alfea in this year's Magic Tournament" Erasiel replied, then lead Eldstrom into to the training hall, where the Winx had gathered, alongside Mirta, Amaryl, Francine, Kimmy, Emily, Lolina, Lavigne, Anastacia, Heidi, Kylie, Ortensia and Lin-Poo, they were the best Alfea's athletic team had to offer and had the highest scores in the athletics courses offered by the school. "Good Morning everyone, now as I am sure you are aware you have been selected to participate in the Tri-Schools Magic Tournament, there are a number of factors in picking out your team, the main ones being grades, your fitness, and your skill set; you are aware we will be competing against Cloud Tower and Red Fountain, as such there will be numerous events but the most significant of these is the sword-fighting challenge, a staple of the tournament from its founding and one of the most prestigious courses taught at all three schools, that being the case, while those among you may be the best swordfighters on offer that doesn't mean you are the best at this tournament, the Red Fountain specialists, battle-mages and wizards pride themselves in being the best warriors taught on Magix, that is a matter to debate, and something we are going to insure doesn't happen by being the best team you can" Erasiel explained. "Now you are probably wondering who the mysterious figure with me is, well she is Alfea's newest teacher and your tutor and couch, the master swordswomen near unrivaled: Eldstrom of the Seven Winds!" Erasiel introduced, and Eldstrom removed her cloak revealing herself, she was dark-brown skinned elf with long lavender hair which was in a pony-tail, she wore a black vail over her face, on her forehead she had a crescent tattooed on it and middle-eastern style attire, she was beautiful, her figure both athletically fit and well-endowed, the outfit consisted of black and red clothing of the revealing kind, her navel was bare but the rest of her chest was covered, in her hands she had two scimitars made of Relix drawn in the fighting style, she then preformed a flourish and sheaved the swords.

"Greetings students, I am Eldstrom Darkar, daughter of Merath Darkar; might add that Erasiel is both my husband and my mother's second husband, don't think I'm his daughter, I am the best swordswoman in the Magic Dimension in my field of weapon specialization, I have millennia of combat experience and will teach you and the other students of this school the art of the sword; see consider the sword not as a weapon but as a painter's brush carving artistic imagery on the battlefield, the art of the sword is much like a dance, first things first I will be testing your blade skills; draw your weapons and face me, one at a time though to test your skill individually, the grade for this is based on your current skill with this I will be able to figure out how to challenge you" Eldstrom explained then drew her swords.

"This will be easy" Stella remarked preforming a flourish with her rapier.

"Such hubris come forth and back your words with skill" Eldstrom challenged and Stella stepped forward, what followed was a dance of blades worthy of a ballad, the agility and strength of both combatants was not the subject as this was a clash of different fighting styles. The bought lasted four minutes and both Stella and Eldstrom were deadlocked eventually however Eldstrom was disarmed by Stella of one sword but Stella herself was disarmed on the follow up. "Well done, Erasiel informed me that you: Princess Stella of Soloria would be the most formidable opponent, in fact given a few years you might surpass me in your skills with a sword, this course will be easier for you than the others, but it will get you to perform at your best" Eldstrom graded, while Erasiel talked on a cellphone.

"Well I'll leave you to your teaching, I've got important matters to attend to, mainly I have a meeting with an associate of mine on the Wizard's Council, then I've got to see to getting the Trix ready; I'll see you all later" Erasiel explained then left.

Later in Scalespire…. Erasiel dismounted his Space Strider which was taken by his chauffer to the garage, shortly he arrived at the location where he was greeted by Councilman Givelian. "Head councilman Erasiel it is good to see you" Givelian stated.

"A good, let's not beat about the bush, this is about the vote earlier, I only say you need to get enough votes to get it passed, and no I will not support it, I can't just go affirming everyone's personal projects; I'm head of the Council specifically for that reason, also I know you want the council to do more in the wider Magic Dimension but its neutral body, we can't just pick sides in the various conflicts" Erasiel stated.

"Yes, I understand your position, so I've heard about the Tri-Schools Tournament and noticed that a master of ceremonies hasn't been selected yet and would like to recommend myself for the position" Givelian explained.

"Givelian, Givelian, young Givelian, you are still young and have much to learn, only a 147; the master of ceremonies is a position that requires experience and is a position that should be held by someone of experience as such I must deny your request, however I've noted we are short a judge, thus I will humor you and give that position, I'm sure you understand my logic" Erasiel replied.

"I see, well at least it's something, I'll live up to your trust" Givelian stated and left.

"He does have much to learn indeed" a familiar voice stated, Erasiel turned and noticed the familiar but short figure of the Gnome Spellbinder Councilman Yerka.

"Indeed, he does Yerka, indeed, I trust you overheard the conversation" Erasiel replied.

"Indeed, I did, now would you walk with me for a time old friend, there are things I would like to discuss with you" Yerka responded, Erasiel nodded and the two walked up to the gates of the palace where two towering Relix armored Dragon Ogres stood guard each the size of a small high-rise building, they opened the gates and allowed Yerka and Erasiel thru.

"So, what is it you want to discuss my old friend" Erasiel asked.

"It is mostly about existing business, however I'm curious as to how you feel about Givelian's recent decisions" Yerka replied.

"Simply put Givelian still has much to learn, personally I'm glad you see to tutoring him he still has much to learn about the politicking in the Magic Dimension I've taken millennia to get the current political map to where it is and to keep general stability, I know he wants to make the Magic Dimension a better place but there are better ways to go about it , as to his personal projects they don't really have any bearing to council matters, if he wants to carry them out he should do so on his own, he doesn't need Council support honestly, you know the main reason I continue to serve as Head of Council is to keep members from turning it into body for their own personal projects rather than for serious issues mainly keeping order in the Magic Dimension also I know Givelian wants the council to take a more active role in the politics of the various governments in the Magic Dimension but the Council is a neutral body which is meant as intermediary body to settle disputes, it's not beholden to any government" Erasiel explained.

"I see your reasoning, though I wonder who would you make your successor if you ever did step down" Yerka replied.

"If I did it would be Irietta, she does most of the business for me anyway, she is deputy head of the council and there is no one I trust more in the Magic Dimension then my sister" Erasiel replied.

"I thought I'd let you know Givelian knows about your relationship with your sister, in detail and intends to use that information against you" Yerka reported.

"Oh yes, both of us are fully aware of that we were being spied on, honestly if he thinks he can blackmail me with a tape of me and Irietta doing what Broodmates do with each other in private he's got even more to learn; I trust you know that our relationship is an open secret; just not something the public needs to concern themselves with" Erasiel stated. "Besides if he thinks he can use that information to get me to vote his way, it just confirms what I've said before about his inexperience, just like I told him about the position of Master of Ceremonies for the tournament" Erasiel added.

"Speaking of have you given consideration as to who you are going to appoint to that role" Yerka stated.

"To be honest it should be someone with experience and centuries of it, it won't be any of the headmasters or teachers though for obvious reasons, but there are a number of people I could think of" Erasiel replied.

"Someone like me?" Yerka stated, Erasiel noted his suggestion.

"Well now that you mention it, you are more than qualified Yerka, you've been a member of the council for 5,000 years, you were one of my finest students at Graynor, you distinguished yourself in an number of events and you have hosted the tournament before, you know what since I've got to see that Alfea and Cloud Towers teams are ready I'll make you Master of Ceremonies, also you can keep young Givelian in check" Erasiel answered.

"I accept the position, you mentioned Alfea and Cloud Tower what about Red Fountain?" Yerka stated.

"Not to sound biased but Red Fountain they don't really have a solid edge in most of the events, mainly due to those being magic oriented and let's be honest Faeries and Witches have more solid advantage, the only place I see a level playing field is in the sword-fighting events, other than that I have received the Team List from Saladin and- well the team is clearly based trying to score political points and on appeasing nobles then on skill, there are some good fighters but most are noble's sons who are just there to say they competed like that dunderhead Lucius Leary, also there is the fact that the team head is Prince Sky who should've been expelled for being the cause of that conflict for Magix last year also there are some more unsavory characters on that team" Erasiel replied.

"I see, well I won't call you biased in your decision" Yerka stated. "Speaking of that conflict last year, I recently received an ambassador from Lighthaven inquiring about missing people that he claims vanished on Magix" Yerka stated.

"Oh yes that, well I found the Trix if you haven't been made aware of that, and I found them held captive in a Lighthaven monastery, here on Magix, on a hill overlooking Lake Roccaluchee, hidden in plain sight as their monasteries tend to be; as to the ambassador: tell him something that never existed no longer exists and if he pushes the issue it will be made common knowledge that it actually existed" Erasiel answered. "Also, I found a map of other Monasteries on Magix and in Allied space, I've instructed raids to destroy them also I told the Whisperians about the large amount in their territory, Night Raid will be busy for the next few months; trust me the Lighthaveners won't risk starting another conflict anytime soon, what with their new leadership" Erasiel stated.

"I can see the logic in your plan; they won't risk open war over destruction of monasteries that were a clear violation of the treaty, as to Lighthaven do you trust their new leader: Grand Templar De Lande?" Yerka stated.

"I trust him much more than his predecessor that's for sure, he does owe me his life also he is in favor of peace; I'm not sure he's keen on the destruction of the Monasteries" Erasiel stated. "Forget about the Lighthaveners for the moment, anything about Abolithon?" Erasiel asked.

"Nothing of note, your scouts have reported reinforcements from his forces arriving in Shadowhaunt, they have fortified the stronghold extremely well and now it will require a sizeable army to take it" Yerka replied gloomily, his expression that was cheery had turned dour. "The Council is still in deliberations to allow a military response, however as you've said your forces are immune from their jurisdiction" Yerka added.

"Let the council debate, it will take some time to mobilize my soldiers, it's been 17 years since the last war and thus I had given them full leave to do as they wish" Erasiel stated.

"Indeed, and according to our commanders it will take three months at least to mobilize enough troops" Irietta added approaching Erasiel.

"Well that's good enough news, now for other intel, any movements on Abolithon's part and are there any signs he knows the location of any of the other Codex parts" Erasiel asked.

"No, not even the council knows where they are hidden" Yerka replied.

"Good that means only myself and the Codex Guardians both Pixies and otherwise know of their location, we must be vigilant, Abolithon will do anything to get his hands on a Codex fragments; also, Yerka I need you and Irietta to keep an eye on the Council" Erasiel replied.

"An eye on the Council? Do you suspect one of the members of being a spy?" Yerka stated.

"Yes, I don't know if there is one, but with Faceless and Phoenixes involved spies can easily be anyone; even those we don't suspect; I know I'm not a spy, neither are you two, the reason I know that I'm not a spy is because A. I wouldn't have been beaten so easy, and B. I could have easily gotten the Codex's and the reason I know you two aren't spies is the fact neither of you have left Scalespire since the start of this incident and in the case of Irietta I know because we can see each other's auras also because she is extremely powerful on par with myself and here in Scalespire our power is absolute, and for you Yerka I can tell by the way you walk" Erasiel stated. "Any other news that may be of my concern Yerka?" Erasiel asked.

"Interesting things have happened, the Kingdom of Serenia's monarchs both died suspiciously, and their chief advisor Count Neropulos has declared himself Lord Protector, other than that nothing major has come up with regard to politics in the Magic Dimension" Yerka noted.

"Interesting, did the King and Queen have an heir?" Erasiel asked.

"Yes, but said heir went missing years ago" Yerka answered.

"I think that needs looking into, I'll head to Serenia when given the opportunity, in the meantime keep an eye on that Lord Protector; this seems an awful lot like foul play, in the meantime I'll have Faceless keep an eye on things if I have to intervene" Erasiel replied then continued on his way, he left Scalespire and headed for Cloud Tower, he was annoyed that Givelian had wasted valuable time that was required for making sure the Trix and their team of elite Witches were ready to participate in the tournament. Remembering that he had sent his Space Strider to the Garage Erasiel berated himself mentally for costing himself even more time "That was stupid on my part" Erasiel thought, he half-swore under his breath when his phone rang. "Erasiel Darkar who is it" Erasiel answered.

"Faragonda Darkar, and I need you back at Alfea there is someone I need you to meet" Faragonda stated.

"Really? I've just spent an hour talking with Yerka after chewing out and humoring Givelian and you want me to come back to Alfea? What's so important that I need to come back right now, I've got to deal with getting the Trix ready for the Tournament; tell me what it is" Erasiel replied annoyed.

"It involves that new teacher I told you about, I've called a general meeting for the entire staff and school to meet her, and before you ask no I'm not spoiling the surprise" Faragonda stated.

"Fine but it better take me 30 minutes or less if not I'll- I'll- I don't know what I'll do" Erasiel replied, she hung up. "KERBORG!" Erasiel yelled and said Faceless materialized next to him.

"Yes, my lord?" Kerborg asked.

"Get me my Space Strider, I'm going to think of some way to vent out my frustration" Erasiel ordered, the Faceless did as instructed. Erasiel decided to vent by launching several fireballs into the air until he felt calmer and Kerborg arrived shortly with his Space Strider; Erasiel dawned his bike suit and took off at max speed. He arrived at Alfea not to long after not even bothering to remove the suit bar the helmet because he intended on leaving quickly, he ran to Faragonda's office and bumped into her in the hallway. "Alright this better be worth the time not spent getting the Trix ready" Erasiel stated annoyed.

"It's important enough, I've already put out a general call for an assembly, we will be heading to the hall for it now" Faragonda stated, and Erasiel took her hand and followed her. They arrived soon in the hall where the students had gathered in the stands and where the other teachers were waiting, Erasiel joined Faragonda on stage alongside Griselda who attempted to block him but thought better of it when he shot her an angry look of the kind that said, "Don't even think about it".

"Students, Staff; I've called this assembly to welcome our newest teacher, it took some time to work out the specifics for her contract, but now she is officially on the staff" Faragonda stated.

"Where is she?" Someone in the audience stated, Faragonda only gave a half smile and opened a window, into the window flew a decent sized eagle with purple and blue feathers carrying a crimson wand with eagle-head handle and an owl head atop it, the eagle then landed on stage and transformed in a flash of purple light into a beautiful woman the same height and figure as Faragonda, she had short spiky purple-blue hair and wore red and gold gown with a collar and shoulder puffies, the dress had some decent cleavage, her arms were bare bar some red gloves, she was beautiful and with a flourish of her wand she materialized a swarm of yellow spectral butterflies, wowing the audience, Faragonda handed her the microphone.

"Greetings students, It's good to see Alfea again, I am Kalshara Darkar Greater Fairy of the Wilds, Animagus supreme, expert on all magical creatures and your new teacher for the Study of Magical Creatures, I'm an expert in all things related to magical creatures and have studied them in depth, I used to teach the subject here but left to teach at Graynor Academy my alma modern, until it was destroyed by those thrice damned despicable Lighthaveners, since then I've been studying in the wilds and have expanded my knowledge on the subject until my best friend Faragonda offered me a job here, after much negotiation I took the job; I will be replacing Professor Palladium in my job however he now has full liberty to pursue his new class without having to deal with a second" Kalshara explained introducing herself. "I suppose you all have questions and I will answer them to the best of my ability, also any involving my surname are not required as I will answer that one, yes I am married to Professor Darkar" Kalshara added.

"Can I leave now?" Erasiel asked Faragonda in a whisper.

"Yes but do so quietly" Faragonda replied and Erasiel ducked out the backstage door, then exited started heading for Cloud Tower.

Later… "Alright now Darcy we are going to start with a very advanced spell, specifically a vortex spell: Purple Sun of Xereus, the goal here is to see if you can maintain control of the Vortex" Erasiel explained, Icy and Stormy had already tried and failed with the vortexes he assigned them to control, these spells were ones he reserved for advanced students which the Trix were but said spells were designed for grand scale battles not for individual magic duels, these spells were ones they would need to learn in order to have a chance against large armies of enemies.

"Yeah sis see if you can succeed" Stormy jeered.

Darcy glared at Stormy then turned towards the field and began to focus her energy; her eyes glowing crimson with no iris to be seen as was typical of powerful Whisperians focusing extreme magical spells, with a glance and motion of her hands she yelled "Purple Sun of Xereus!" and massive glowing sun of purple energy formed into being radiating streams of energy which grabbed objects pulling them towards the fiery doom and absorbing the trees of a nearby forest as well as the herd of Beastmen moving underneath them, Darcy motioned her hands moving the purple sun's path away from Cloud Tower and towards the Beastmen and Goblins who were running from the giant sun as fast as they could, suddenly Darcy lost control. "I can't- there is too much magic" Darcy stated losing her control, the sun ripped from her control and veered off towards Cloud Tower, Erasiel flew in front of the sun and stopped it with one hand then compacted it into a tiny ball which he crushed with his hands. Erasiel flew over to the Trix.

"Alright ladies enough for now, it clear that you haven't yet got control over Vortexes yet, we will try this again another week from now, fortunately there no vortex events in the Tri-Schools Tournament as such you aren't being graded on these, this is just a warm up to see how you three have progressed, now I am going to let you three decide the team for this tournament, remember only the best witches, I'm going on a lunch break and will be back in an hour, just choose the team and introduce them to me when I get back" Erasiel stated.

"Alright We'll do that and only the best will make the cut" Icy stated, she and her sisters teleported inside.

Erasiel headed back to Cloud Tower's garage to fetch his Space Strider, he had parked it next to Lucy's Space Strider which had been painted a dark green the same color as her hair, Erasiel noted that Lucy herself had made more modifications since the last time he saw the bike, which was before the Battle for Magix. Erasiel mounted his bike and took off out the open door which was protected from the elements by an energy field which allowed vehicles and their occupants out. Erasiel glided over the Cloud Tower Courtyard then over the forests, he checked his watch noting it was 11:20 so not too late, he had been worrying over nothing. "I've been overreacting, I need to center myself, more specifically find something to distract myself from what's troubling me" Erasiel thought to himself, he gracefully pulled a dodge of a volley of arrows fired at him by some rather irate Ungors, not that their arrows were going to do any damage to his Space Strider and he heard them curse him in a rather creative tirade of profanity in the language of the Beastmen.

Ten minutes later Erasiel landed in a parking lot adjacent to the White Horse, where he noted that Bloom's Windrider and Francis's Windrider were parked out front, which meant they were done practicing for the day and were at work. Approaching the restaurant he noted something, a man running by him carrying a handbag that was far too expensive to be his as it was decorated by Solarian Star Pearls also his attire was of the kind that suggested a thief such as he was, this was confirmed by a woman yelling "Get back here you Thieving bastard!" who was running after him, Erasiel being the type to get involved in these problems took out his knife then flung it, the thrown blade sliced one of the thief's hamstrings causing him to summersault and fall flat on the ground as the blade flew back to Erasiel who stepped up to the crook and grabbed the handbag. "You aren't having a lucky day are you, I mean really you stole someone's purse and where did that get you, knocked flat on your rear with a cut hamstring put there by Erasiel Darkar that's what you got" Erasiel stated to the thief before turning to see the woman who had been robbed and well she was a vision.

The woman had long pale blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail with lighter blonde streaks. She had dark blue eyes, with lighter blue eyeshadow and eyeliner, she was beautiful, serene, her lips were soft with blue lipstick, she wore a long light blue shirt dress with dark blue pants that went above her ankles with dark blue heels, she also wore long earrings made of mithril and studded with the same Solarian Star Pearls as adorned her hand bag, she stood about 6'4 though she was wearing four inch heels. "I believe this belongs to you" Erasiel stated hand her the bag. "Don't worry about him: Kerborg!" Erasiel shouted, the Faceless appeared in his normal form.

"Yes, my lord?" Kerborg asked

"Take this crook to the local police station, also see to his leg make sure it gets patched up" Erasiel ordered and Kerborg nodded and carried the crook away. "I believe this belongs to you" Erasiel stated handing the woman her purse.

"Thank you, this world needs more people like you in it" the Woman stated.

"You're welcome; I'm Erasiel Nathan Darkar and your name is" Erasiel asked.

"Luna, I'm new here on Magix, I moved here to be closer to my daughter" the Woman Luna asked.

"I see, then I guess I should address you as Mrs. Luna" Erasiel replied.

"No, Miss Luna Starloft, I moved here to get away from my Ex-husband and to be closer to my daughter, she goes to Alfea by the way, same school I went to" Luna replied.

"Ah I see" Erasiel replied.

"Anyway, I'm thankful for what you've done is there any way I can repay you for helping me?" Luna asked.

"How about Lunch, I'll pay" Erasiel replied.

"Why not, I was going to get lunch anyway when that creep mugged me, the White Horse?" Luna replied.

"Yes, I was going there anyway, don't worry I'll pay, your company is reward enough" Erasiel stated.

"Alright" Luna replied, realizing that he of course was flirting with her, well a date was worth his kindness, and she was looking for a man to replace her husband, hopefully.

Erasiel went inside with Luna at his side, noted that the place was lively and was approached by Bloom who was wearing a cute waitress's outfit which consisted of pink shirt and capris with a white tank top, a white half apron at the waist and grey shoes. "Table for two please Bloom" Erasiel stated.

"Of course, please wait to be seated" Bloom stated, noting Erasiel's date, Bloom was speedy in getting them a table.

Erasiel sat down facing Luna. "Here's your menu can I get you two something to drink?" Bloom asked winking at Erasiel.

"Root Beer" Erasiel and Luna stated at the same time, causing both of them to blush.

"Coming right up, I'll be back" Bloom stated, then smiled left them.

"Well that was quick, last time I came here it took 10 minutes, but the food is so good here I keep coming back" Luna stated.

"I can agree the wait is definitely worth it though; though the fact that we did get seated quickly happens to do with the fact that she and I are well friends, and she is one of my students" Erasiel replied.

"You're a teacher?" Luna asked.

"Yes, one of my many professions, but teaching is what I enjoy the most, melding young minds, I've been at it for millennia; I'm a Phoenix as you may have guessed by my tail" Erasiel stated.

"Yes, I knew that; I can see your interest in me, how long have you been in the job and what is your job?" Luna replied.

"Well for starters I've been working at Alfea for a month now, as for my job I'm an assistant teacher, I help the other teachers with their lessons and offer my own input, I used to teach at Graynor, the original Graynor not the new academy, before it was destroyed by the Lighthaven bastards, I've gotten closure thanks to that waitress and have gotten back in the game" Erasiel replied.

"How did that waitress get you closure?" Luna asked, having been out of touch with recent events due to her divorce proceedings and settlements.

"She isn't a normal waitress, she is Bloom, Queen of Domino, daughter of King Orital and Queen Marion, savior of Alfea and Magix and the bane of High Templar Arsonious, may his vile soul rot in hell forever, more importantly she avenged the countless murders and crimes of Arsonious and avenged Graynor and put the souls of his victims to rest, she restored my desire to teach again" Erasiel replied, Bloom returned shortly with their drinks and took their orders.

"So how do you know her so well?" Luna asked inquisitively.

"Easy I was there for all her adventures as her teacher and friend, also I'm part of her team" Erasiel remarked.

"You must have some stories to tell" Luna remarked.

"Indeed, I do, a lot of stories, the number is countless, now I've told you a deal about myself we not tell me a bit about you" Erasiel replied.

"Well alright, I was born here on Magix, I went to school here at Alfea when I was old enough, my childhood was relatively normal my parents are good people and we were decently off, when I was old enough I joined the forces of the Company of Light where I met my husband, now ex-husband, he was an astonishing warrior and skilled leader, his name was Prince Radius, we fell in love, 4 years before the war ended his father died in battle and he became king of Soloria, afterwards we married, 2 years before the end of the war we had our first and only child Stella, after the war we settled down, I was Queen of the Moon and he was King of the Suns, we raised Stella as best as we could but Radius and I disagreed about how to raise her, he wanted her to be more martial and savvy with leadership, I wanted her to be more lady-like, she ended up a mix of both, eventually our dispute boiled, we argued about Stella's education, disagreed regarding a number of issues mainly those involving the people at court, he complained about us not having children despite my best efforts, after a while we chose to sleep in different rooms, then turned cold to each other, eventually we divorced and I moved back to Magix, I received a large amount of money, a King's fortune in the divorce, our custody agreement allows us both to interact with Stella though she lives on Solaria most of the time, other than that I've had a few off and on relationships none however have developed further than a couple of dates, nothing really steady, you however you're different though, hopefully" Luna explained.

They continued to discuss other things as more customers entered the restaurant, one of which was Stella. "Hey Francis" Stella greeted.

"Hey Stella" Francis replied. "Don't worry I'll get you a seat right away" Francis stated.

"How's your day going?" Stella asked.

"Good, so far it hasn't be too busy here, Bloom is good too" Francis replied.

"Hey Stella" Bloom greeted walking by with a tray carrying orders.

"Hey Bloom" Stella replied.

"Can't talk now Stella, I've got orders to deliver" Bloom replied.

"So, how's business going?" Stella asked Francis.

"Good, Nathan came in earlier, he's still here by the way, he was with a date" Francis stated.

"That's normal, him with a date, him here that's a bit interesting but I'm not questioning it, the food here is amazing" Stella stated, then she noticed Erasiel in the corner. "Wait is that?" Stella stated, and headed to Bloom with Francis following behind.

"Stella I told you I can't talk now, I'm busy delivering orders" Bloom replied.

"Quick question who's that with Nathan?" Stella asked.

"Oh, her name is Luna she's his date, I didn't ask more, by the way her table is next, why do you ask?" Bloom replied.

"Because that's my mother he's with" Stella stated an annoyed look on her face.

"Oh, well it makes you feel better my Earth mother is with him if that make you feel better" Bloom replied.

"She's a phoenix Bloom, Nathan and her have been together before anyone here was born, that's my mother- you know what I'm going to have a word with them" Stella stated.

"Shouldn't I get you seated first?" Francis asked.

"I will sit with my Mother" Stella stated firmly and walked over to Erasiel and Luna's table.

"Hi Stella" Erasiel greeted, Stella ignored him. "Well this may be a problem" Erasiel thought.

"No kidding boss" Gripmaw replied over their link.

"Mother what are you doing here and with him?" Stella asked.

"Having Lunch, come and join us" Erasiel remarked, Stella sat down next to Luna.

"Stella let's start things off, this is Nathan, Nathan this is Stella" Luna stated, going thru a formal introduction.

"We've already met, in fact we've known each other for a year now, in fact we are on the same team, what are you doing with him though?" Stella stated annoyed.

"Here we go again" Luna thought. "I'm here as a reward, he stopped a mugger from making off with my purse, I was going her for lunch anyway, besides that it beside the point Stella, I'm a grown woman and I can make my own decisions, just like you are now, right now I've moved on from your father, you'll have to get used to it" Luna replied.

"But he's a womanizer" Stella replied.

"He's a phoenix Stella, that's normal for a phoenix, besides you're one to talk with the way you flirt" Luna remarked, and Bloom arrived.

"Excuse me, I hate to be interrupting a conversation usually, but in this case I'm not, Here's your food" Bloom stated and handed Erasiel his chicken and Fries and Luna her chicken and fries. "Hey Stella, can I get you anything to drink?" Bloom asked.

"Two Mountain dews, I'm annoyed right now so I'll have an extra one, that will sooth me, as to what I'll have for lunch, well I'll think on that" Stella replied.

"Sure, I can do that, do either of you two need refills?" Bloom added.

"Yes" both Erasiel and Luna said simultaneously, then both laughed, and Stella shrugged, Bloom left to get the drinks.

"Wow, we both finished our drinks at the same time" Luna remarked.

"Yes, that is interesting" Erasiel stated.

"Anyway, Stella give Nathan a chance and see if it works out so far its working out good" Luna explained.

"Fine albeit I'm annoyed because you know I'm interested in him too" Stella replied.

"That's better" Luna replied and smiled. Bloom soon returned with their drinks then took Stella's order, they then ate lunch and were satisfied. "You know what Stella I think we all need to spend time with each other, why not do what you love best" Luna stated.

"Shopping!" Both exclaimed at the same time. Soon they left the White Horse and headed for the mall downtown, Erasiel included.

Shortly…

"Well Stella I think you deserve a prize for all your efforts at school, you pay attention a lot more with me in your classes and your grades have improved overall, here take my credit card and buy everything you want to your heart's content, no questions asked" Erasiel stated after they had entered.

"Thanks Nathan but I can't accept, you're too generous, I didn't know you cared that much" Stella replied.

"Please it's the least I can do, I saved your life after all in that underground river near Shadowhaunt and went out of my way to carry you all the way to Downland" Erasiel stated.

"I guess, I just I don't know it doesn't seem right to spend your money on stuff I'm buying for myself" Stella replied.

"Consider it a gift, besides you could never exhaust my money, it's beyond the possibility of even a drop in the bucket" Erasiel replied.

"You're serious, well you are I guess, so, I didn't know you were so wealthy, how much do you have" Stella stated.

"Astronomical levels of wealth trust me Stella, the only people richer then me are those of higher position in my house, my Father included, I've had eons to amass my fortunes, across many worlds and dimensions, trust me I've more money than I could ever spend, and there isn't much I'd spend it on" Erasiel replied, Stella took the card from him. "Kerborg, Gripmaw go with Stella and carry everything she gets" Erasiel ordered said faceless appeared ready

"Alright I'm off" Stella stated then ran faster than Usain Bolt in the 100-yard dash towards a Clothing store that said 25% off all brands, with both Faceless running after her.

"That's my daughter for you" Luna remarked putting her arm on Erasiel's shoulder.

"Yep, so what do you want to do?" Erasiel stated holding the hand that rested on his shoulder.

"You know you are such a caring man, I think we should be seeing each other, a lot, I don't think I'll be dating anyone else for a while" Luna replied.

"You want to come to the Magical Tournament with me?" Erasiel asked.

"I would love to, I was going to go anyway because Stella is on the Alfea Team, but now it's even better to have someone to come with me" Luna replied. Erasiel turned to her and kissed her on the cheek, she kissed him full on the lips, they continued kissing each other for some time. "You are certainly a better kisser then Radius" Luna remarked after breaking the kiss.

"You aren't so bad yourself, I've got years of practice in that department, anyway you are still amazing" Erasiel replied, and they returned to making out, much to the irritation of passerby. Soon Stella returned with Kerborg and Gripmaw, both carrying a large amount of bags, and noted Erasiel's face was covered with blue lipstick from her mother.

"You two have fun while I was away?" Stella asked rhetorically.

"Do we need to answer that" Erasiel replied with blue lipstick over his face.

"Nope, anyway here is your card back, I've bought everything I had interest in" Stella replied.

"Good, Kerborg: you and Gripmaw take Stella's things back to her Dorm" Erasiel ordered and both Faceless teleported out.

"Thanks for that, anyway I better get back to Alfea and practice some more, wouldn't want my blade-work to get sloppy now would I" Stella stated, then turned the Ring of Solaria into scepter form. "To Alfea!" Stella stated and teleported out.

"She's grown up so quickly, I'm not at all disappointed about how she turned out, despite my disagreements with Radius on how she should be raised, she's a powerful and promising fairy, in spite of her grades" Luna remarked.

"I can understand the feeling, though she's been more focused and doing better with me in her classes, I guess when I'm teaching she pays more attention" Erasiel replied.

"She loves you: you know that?" Luna replied.

"Yes, and you don't have any issues with that?" Erasiel stated.

"No, my daughter is an adult now and she is free to make her own decisions, even if she shares the same love interest as me, it's nothing abnormal; I'll get used to it, though it will be awkward" Luna responded.

"How so?" Erasiel stated.

"Well should we get married and she marries you, any children you and I have will be both her sisters and her nieces" Luna replied.

"Yes, but it's not too awkward" Erasiel stated, thinking of his relationship with Irietta, despite the fact that they had transcended any real taboos with their relationships and the fact they thought of each other as soulmates they were still brother and sister, something which was frowned on in the larger universe, not that it mattered anyway, no taboo would separate them; they were brood mates and that was an unbreakable union, stronger then marriage and by far stronger than any of society's taboos.

Two days later… Erasiel was sitting in the new third period class of the study of Magical creatures, Dufour's class had been pushed back a period, however she was now the most active teacher and her class was the most important now as she focused on the preparing of students for the Magic Tournament by teaching the cantrip spells needed for the events where magic was concerned.

Erasiel was there early and many students had just arrived, he was however noting the absence of Professor Kalshara, he expected her to make a grand entry though as this was her first class, Erasiel sat on his floating chair with Zing and Livy floating on either side of him, he had grown quite fond of his bonded pixies and was now determined to have them with him wherever he went. The obvious concern now was the tournament, the Trix had put together an A team, all of which had Gloomix, they were now in his opinion the favored team to win the Tournament, which meant he had to push the Alfea team harder for them to have a chance of winning, it didn't help that Gloomix made the Trix more powerful than the Winx. The issue was simple in that regard, the Winx's Charmix were incomplete, something that at some point would have to be remedied, however as it stood now there were too many risks involved also he wouldn't have time to get them there before the Tournament, which was now only a week away; his concerns couldn't be more palpable.

The Winx entered the classroom, followed by Mirta and the club's newest member Selene, he was beginning to think that Mirta should join the club, but that was being put off at the moment, he thought that if she proved herself in the Tournament that she should join. They were followed by other students, who were arriving. he noted that Katy, Priscilla and Luna, not to be confused with the former Solarian queen, were eager; he remembered that their wedding day was tomorrow and that as their groom he would have to be ready, soon they would be pregnant, and within 6 months they would be mothers, they didn't make the team for the tournament but they would be joining him along with Luna (Stella's mother) in his private box that overlooked the tournament grounds in Scalespire which was in the Grand Arena, the preparations for the event were underway and set up would be finished before the Tournament next week. Erasiel focused on everyone and took the attendance sheet off of Kalshara's desk so that he could handle that.

Suddenly a dark purple owl flew into the room, and landed next to the desk, where it transformed into Professor Kalshara. The Classroom itself was large and was decorated as you would expect from the class on Magical Creatures; in addition to the usual school supplies, books on magical creatures were a few cages in which pets kept by Kalshara resided. Another Owl flew in, this one had dark blue feathers and perched on Kalshara's shoulder. She wore the same attire she wore at the assembly with the addition of a shoulder pad which the owl was perched on. "Greetings students, welcome to the Study of Magical Creatures, I'm your teacher Professor Kalshara, I am a greater fairy of Wilds and animals but am also an Animagus, today's lesson will be on Animagi which will provide insight into myself and a number of other powerful casters, in addition to this I will have an activity that will allow me to get to know each of you, now everyone park your butts in your seats; I will begin with some soothing music to make sure everyone's minds are clear and ready to learn" Kalshara stated.

The class did as instructed, Kalshara used her wand to activate a radio which played a rather soothing music, it made everyone focus apart from Musa who began to weep, the music was from Melody and was the same as music her mother would play for her when she was little. "Strange usually the music is soothing but for her it seems to make her sad" Kalshara thought. A certain pixie flew over to Kalshara and whispered in her ears. "Oh, I see, I understand now" Kalshara stated.

The music played for a few minutes before Kalshara turned it off. "I see now your minds are now clear and relaxed, now for the lesson get out your pencils and take notes, you will be quizzed on this at the end of the unit my tests are open notes so as long as you pay attention and take notes you will get good grades" Kalshara explained, then did a flourish with her wand and summoned a chalk board and a set of chalk, the chalkboard hovered in the air and the chalk wrote first "Professor Kalshara Genevieve "Larcrazzi" Darkar" then in wrote the word Animagus. "First things first, the world magus in Animagus is a misnomer as any magic user with the lore of Wilds and or lore of Beasts also called the lore of animals can become an Animagus, this includes: Faeries, Wizards, Warlocks, Sorcerers, Witches, Sorceresses, Spellbinders, Enchanters, Mages, Battle Mages, and so on, anyone who can use the Lore of Wilds or Lore of Beasts can become an Animagus" Kalshara explained. "Now what is it that separates an Animagus from most casters, the first of these is that an Animagus is capable of turning themselves into a variety of animals, they are also capable of altering their physical form into a more animal-like form; observe" Kalshara added, then changed forms her new form was more catlike with a long cat's tail her ears were now pointed like an elves, not that they hadn't been pointed before, she had tiger like patterns along a now brown skin, her hair was longer and a darker shade of blue, the sounds oohs and has were heard from the class bar Erasiel who simply smiled. "As well as animals" Kalshara stated and turned into hound, then into seal, then into lion, then scorpion, then serpent and finally back to her normal form. "This is only a small number of the many forms I can take, the number of creatures I can turn into numbers in the thousands. Now you may note that this seems remarkably similar to Transfiguration that you will have learned with Professor Whizgiz, the difference is that the changes of an Animagus are augments and are not limited in time like Transfiguration spells nor do they limit the casters use of spells, an Animagus in transformed into a mouse is still capable of lobbing an amber spear into in armored Mordan and dropping him in one hit, also an Animagus is able to use a more advanced version of Transformation of Khadan, rather than using it to turn a fixture of terrain into a Manticore under the casters control, the caster can turn themselves into a Manticore and have all the details that entails" Kalshara explained.

The class continued, Erasiel was focused on Bloom who fell asleep mid-way in as she usually did, Erasiel pulled out a straw and then gave it to Zing who shot a spitball at her to wake her up which it did also Bloom didn't know who shot it at her. The longer the class was the more they would learn, also the lessons here would be practical in future missions when faeries would be called on to deal with a hostile magical creature that was causing problems.

Meanwhile in Scalespire…. Givelian was at the Great Arena and was readying the important thing that would make the challenge harder for, he was going to replace the seeds for the Vicious Ivy which was going to be used for the final challenge with the more aggressive Sequoia-serpaliverous-swifta or Triple Ss as Flora would call them; the plants would not be planted until the day of the tournament as such they would be kept in storage, notably this was a sub variant of Triple Ss that grew in light rather than in darkness, these plants would entangle the students and then the audience and then the entire stadium until they were dealt with. "Givelian you've out done yourself again, this should foul things up and cause an uproar" Givelian thought to himself then left the store room and got out of the stadium before anyone noticed him being there.

Back at Alfea Erasiel had taken the students to Dufour's class where Professor Defour had prepared her lesson. Professor Dufour was a beautiful fairy of about 100 years of age, she had a light complexion, long dark-blue hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a large scarlet hat with purple strip, a red knee-length dress with long bell mouth sleeves, formal moccasin shoes by the same color, a purple sash held by a gold ring at the front, and a purple sash on her top holding a crimson cape. Everyone took their seats and Professor Dufour began teaching after taking role. "Greetings students and welcome back, today's lesson will be about spells and the importance of tone and volume of voice, the wording of a spell is about as important as the tone, the more fervor you put into the casting of the spell the more potent it will be, for example a spell you yell at the top of your lungs will be far more powerful than a spell you whisper, likewise the tone of voice also affects the spell, now follow me students, we will be heading outside to demonstrate the effects of this lesson" Dufour explained. They left the classroom and went to the school training field.

"Now for a demonstration: Wind of Daquar!" Dufour yelled and large blowing blue wind overturned several practice dummies. "Now for you students we will use a more simple spell, rain spells are rather simplistic cantrips not to be confused with the weather magic spells that are used by those who use weather magic, now these spells use rhymes to summon, the more harmonious and pleasant the rhymes are the more powerful the spell is" Dufour explained. "It's Raining. It's pouring from this cloud: it's falling!" She casted and a small rain cloud materialized above the field and loosed a mild rain. "Now you try, you're all familiar with this cantrips by now" Dufour stated, Selene stepped up.

"Hail this good shower for only it has the power. Save us from the heat and that's no small feat." Selene casted, and a rather large cloud materialized and let out more rain.

"Good job Selene" Dufour congratulated. "Now for a more potent spell: May the scattered clouds rain on the parched plain! Come, vapor from distant lands, rain from our hands! May the sound of life-giving precipitation be heard on the desolate vegetation!" Dufour casted and a great rain cloud let forth a downpour that would make Stormy envious, and which caused everyone to be awed. The class continued for another hour and the bell rang.

"So did everyone pay attention to the spells" Musa asked.

"Yes, I'd like to know if you did and weren't distracted by me" Erasiel remarked.

"I certainly paid attention, though I'm worried the last time there was a tournament Cloud Tower won" Flora stated.

"Please Flora don't worry, the only reason they won four years ago was because the Winx weren't around to stop the Trix from steamrolling, though my friend Chelsea and her team sure didn't make things easy for the Trix" Stella remarked.

"Who's Chelsea?" Bloom asked.

"A friend of mine from Whisperia, she graduated the year before you came here Bloom she was the school's best student, a truly great fairy, she uses illusion magic and comes from a very high up family on Whisperia though not noble, she's actually a handmaiden now to Princess Esdeath, she is a true force to behold though" Stella explained.

"Yes how quaint, now remember the Trix aren't going to make this easy on you and they've picked a crack team of witches for this year's tournament I won't name names but just letting you know you'll have to be at your best, the first two challenges are set in advance but the final one is randomly selected via a drawing, a number of papers are thrown with a number of challenges on them, an archer shoots an arrow and pins one to the wall and that one is the challenge, there are seventy possible events and you have to be ready for any of them; as such these next two weeks Winx are going to be hell" Erasiel interrupted.

"Oh great" Bloom stated sarcastically.

Two Weeks later… The grind of intense training Erasiel put the Winx thru was exactly what he said it would be, hell, more arduous then basic training it was a grid of numerous challenges on top of intense research and more work, the only relief was that they were exempt from all classes save those of Kalshara and Dufour as they had numerous things to offer for the tournament. After days of training the Winx had gotten ready for the tournament and were now in Scalespire at the Grand Arena. "Alright Winx I'm here to give you all a final wish of good luck, I'll be watching you from my private box, don't get distracted, this will be a hard event and all of Alfea is rooting for you, now get out there and give the Trix the hardest competition they've ever had" Erasiel pepped, he was dressed in and orange and purple robe with a soft slipper like shoes he held his staff in his right hand.

"YA!" the Winx yelled and were joined by their fellow teammates.

"Now get out there and give em a show worth the price of admission!" Erasiel yelled and they left. Erasiel went up the stairs to his private box, he was joined by Irietta who was wearing the most flamboyant dress possible, as well as by Stella's mother Luna and his three new Lynphean brides: Katy, Priscilla and Luna who all looked fabulous in gowns made by Irietta for them, also in the room were a few elite guards, as well as the Headmasters from the three schools: Griffin, Saladin, and Faragonda. From the box Erasiel had a view of the entire Arena, bellow him was another box this one was open air and that was occupied by the Master of Ceremonies in this case Yerka and by the five judges: of which Givelian was one the other four being other members of the council which Erasiel had handpicked for their experience in judging past competitions.

"This will be interesting" Erasiel stated leaning back in his chair, Zing and Livy landed on his shoulders while other pixies gathered around to study.

"Thanks for getting use this amazing view" Katy commented then took a drink from her Pepsi.

"Anything for you my lovely wives: starting now in five, four, three, two, one" Erasiel stated, then a grand trumpet display went up from the arena, Erasiel smiled as Yerka stepped up to the Microphone.

"Welcome all! Welcome to the 567,317th quarter-annual Tri-Schools Magic Tournament, I am Councilman Yerka of the Wizard's Council, I am also the Master of Ceremonies, I was given this position by our esteemed host Lord Erasiel Nathan Darkar, the head of the Wizard's Council and the ruler of Scalespire, this year's tournament once again welcomes the greatest of athletes from the three schools of Magix; I will introduce them now" Yerka stated proudly. "From the newly rebuilt school using their mix of magic and state of the art technology come the fierce warriors and wizards of Red Fountain: please welcome the Red Fountain Team!" Yerka yelled. From one of the gates a team of twenty specialists ran out: a Grand screen showed the events to audience and Erasiel could see the Red Fountain team nice and clearly: there were a few good warriors on that team such Leona, Anguine, Sabitha, Nicole and Bishop, but there were way more people who weren't up for this kind of thing, most notably the familiar school idiot Lucius Leary; who shouldn't have been on the team at all were it not for his father being a highly influential politician; also on the team was Leonardo Vakss a scumbag of high degree, and of course was the resident so called popular pretty boy Prince Sky of Eraklyion in all his glory; the other members were toughs from Sky's group of bullies and some noble sons who weren't in the best shape, they all wore the uniforms typical of the specialists save those who were otherwise who wore their own outfits.

"BOO!" Erasiel yelled via a Microphone which resulted in course of boos from the audience near him. Granted the people next to him were from Alfea, Cloud Tower and from Scalespire itself so there was naturally going to be animosity, Saladin face-palmed then gave a reluctant yay.

"And from the center gate comes the first of our all-female teams; the challengers who nearly won the last tournament, you know them and love them: the Faeries of Alfea!" Yerka yelled and out came the Winx with Mirta, Amaryl, Francine, Kimmy, Emily, Lolina, Lavigne, Anastacia, Heidi, Kylie, Ortensia and lastly Lin-Poo, a massive cheer came up from the audience.

"GO ALFEA!" Erasiel yelled holding up a pair of foam gloves and was joined by everyone bar Griffin and Saladin in his box in cheering them on, the team wore purple and magenta jumpsuits in the school colors, with slots for their wings.

"And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for: Our Returning Champions 5 Tournaments running, The Cloud Tower Witches!" Yerka yelled and a massive cheer went up from the audience and from Griffin and the other Cloud Tower staff and students, the Trix came charging out accompanied by Nimeria, Lucy, Endora, Shilly, Lucretia, Vera, Ivey, Pusilitia, Hecate, Ververine, Gerbera, Euphorbia, Samantha, and Tabitha they were also joined by a witch who looked completely identical to Ayesha and who was obviously her twin sister Layla the only noticeable difference between the two being hair style as Layla had her hair a pony tail, the witches wore jumpsuits that were customized in paint by their owners, each being the color of the Witch's witch form and having the first letter of their name capitalized on the front, overall they were similar to the jumpsuits worn by the Alfea team but with more artistic liberty taken.

"Alright now that our teams are hear let's begin with the first of our competitions, the Sword fighting contest!" Yerka stated, and in the center of the arena a large platform opened up and rose over a motte filed with water. "Each contestant of the team will fight another member of each school one on one, the team that eliminates the most competitors per fight will win, each bout will be a one on one with the victor from each school taking on a challenger from the other, the points will be kept track by the defeated opponent, the opponent is defeated if they are knocked off the side into the motte, we will begin: with Kimmy from Alfea facing off against Lucius Leary from Red Fountain" Yerka stated.

"This will be a piece of cake" Kimmy remarked.

"Lucius Leary, really how did he get on the Red Fountain team?" Francis stated annoyed.

"Who's Lucius Leary?" Ayesha asked.

"A Creep, and troublemaker, last year he ruined the opening dance of the year by replacing the Lightspark Eggs with Crow Eggs" Musa responded.

"This will be a synch" Kimmy stated. Kimmy was a fair-skinned fairy with bright blond/yellow colored hair pulled back into a braided bun and she has a few loose strands of hair and spiked inward bangs. Her eyes were brown. She wore the same attire as the rest of the Alfea team but her regular attire which she wore to the arena consisted of a pale blue midriff top with puff-sleeves and a pointed neck and a pale pink skirt that has a cut on the left side and the sides are pointed, she also has a pale-yellow belt.

The two climbed up a staircase on opposite sides of the ring and went to the center which a table sat with a number of phanto blades representing a different sword, Kimmy took a rapier; and stepped back as Lucius took his sword a straight blade which he grasped with gapping style which left a lot to be desired, Kimmy took a fencer's stance of the kind usually taken by Stella as like her Kimmy was from Solaria and also taught in the art of the Blade-Dance. The stand retracted after the weapons had been chosen and a few seconds later a gong was heard and the two commenced the fight. Leary was a trained swordsman, but he was inept and had poor posture and tended to flail about as he fought, this was far too easy for Kimmy to exploit as she simply parried each of his blows before following up with counters that knocked him back, the clash kept going for a few seconds before Lucius Leary fell off the side of the platform.

"EGAAH!" Lucius yelled as he fell, bad piercings mohawk and all into the water.

The Crowd erupted in cheering as Kimmy took her side along the stand which now had replaced Leary's weapon. "Excellent first point to Alfea: now for our Cloud Tower challenger: Ververine!" Yerka announced. The Blonde witch marched up with a confident smirk on her face.

"I'm not going to make this easy on you; let's see how you compete with a Darkmoor warrior" Ververine taunted in her silky velvety voice and took up two sabers.

"Bring it Witch!" Kimmy replied, the stand once again retracted and once again the gong tolled and the fight commenced, this time Kimmy's opponent was more formidable, Ververine carried herself with the baring of skilled fighter and she counted the blade-dance with ease using the Darkmoor scything technique using on saber to parry Kimmy's sword and the other to counter, also Ververine has an advantage in strength and size as she was 4 inches taller than Kimmy, with a series of aggressive slices and broad sweeping counters Kimmy found herself blocking hard at the edge before a firm kick to the gut from Ververine sent her into the water, the cheering of the Cloud Tower team and fans in the audience.

"Thank you my adoring fans!" Ververine said to the crowd as they cheered, she smirked with her blood red lips, soon her next opponent came up, a Red Fountain Specialist named Felix Johnson who was a stout yet strong man of imposing size, he took up a bastard sword from the stand and gripped it in a stern form. The Gong sounded again, despite the size and strength offered by Felix Ververine had the advantage as he didn't leverage it properly also his attacks allowed him to flail about, she feigned being beaten only as he was about to make a final sweeping rush to knock her off the edge did she sidestep and send him off the edge to a large splash generated by his bulk.

"Another point to Cloud Tower" Yerka stated, the Scoreboard now read Alfea 1, Cloud Tower 2, and Red Fountain 0.

Ververine continued her undefeated streak for three more rounds until she was outmatched and knocked off the edge by Mirta with an empowered slash from a falchion backed up by a shield, however this put Cloud Tower ahead rather considerably as they had scored 5 points due to Ververine alone which said something as Mirta was now considering. "I knew the Cloud Tower team was good last time, but this time they've really upped their power, Ververine was only a Freshmen last year and she's this good, perhaps I made a mistake in changing schools" Mirta thought to herself, Ververine had eliminated Kimmy, Felix, Francine and Felix's younger brother Lionel Johnson from the competition before Mirta took her out of the running and they weren't slouches in combat.

Mirta's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival a familiar face, that of Sabitha, the Night Elf Specialist who had gone with her and the Winx on that mission to Domino last year. "It's good to see you again Mirta, now let us test our blades" Sabitha greeted then picked a two-handed Elven blade from the weapon stand. The Gong sounded and once again the arena bought commenced, the crowd cheering onward, this fight was dead even as both combatants were of equal skill, each countering each strike more effectively, this deadlock continued until Mirta hit Sabitha in her gut with shield stunning her, she followed up with a chained series of stuns until she knocked Sabitha of the edge into the water, to roaring cheers of "Mirta! Mirta! Mirta!" from the crowd.

From above Givelian and the other judges had been observing the fight, Givelian scheming noted that his little plan wouldn't happen until the end of the Tournament. "Yerka did you rig the drawing as I asked" Givelian asked Yerka.

"Yes, I did the archer will know which sheet to target and he won't miss" Yerka replied. The next challenger entered on the platform and Mirta recognized her too well.

"Hey Mirta, how's things been going since you became a fairy" Lucy greeted her beauty radiant as the transformation Erasiel did for her last year was permanent, though she had grown her hair out a bit since the initial look.

"Good, how's things at Cloud Tower" Mirta replied.

"As witchy as ever, you shouldn't have changed schools, I've made the team and Trix are as effective teachers as ever, I'm not holding back, we may be friends but in the arena we are enemies" Lucy stated as she took up a pair of Twin hooks.

"Not even remotely fair" Mirta thought. "Imagine my luck to be pitted against you" Mirta replied, the gong sounded, and the clash of friends commenced, Mirta found herself loosing very quick as she was quickly deprived of her shield which had been her ace against Ververine and Sabitha, Lucy hadn't be lying and her mastery of the twin-hooks was evident in that quickly followed up by hooking Mirta by her leg and knocking her over edge into the water to saddening splash.

Mirta was quickly fished out Bloom and Lin-Poo. "Are you alright?" Bloom asked.

"Yes, the only thing hurt is my pride and my trust, I thought for sure Lucy would go easy on me for the sake of our friendship, I was wrong clearly she's put her all into this competition, just like the pageant last year" Mirta replied and spat out water from her mouth. "Ergh, Chlorine is awful if you get it in your mouth, I'll be fine though, Bloom you're up next" Mirta replied.

"Alright I better ready myself" Bloom replied.

"You're our secret weapon Bloom, you defeated that insane Grand Templar Arsonious you can beat anyone here except Nathan but he's not competing and Stella but she's on our team" Lin Poo cheered on.

Soon Bloom was up to fight, Leonardo Vakss had been sent into the motte by Lucy who's swift strikes had overpowered the guard of Vakss, Bloom noticed however a pattern in Lucy's attacks and noted that her fighting style was similar to Erasiel's in some ways, in that she favored light flurries followed up by effect power attacks, but also focused on using her opponent's best advantage as a weakness. "So in order to beat her I'm going to need to take my own strength and know it's weakness, good thing Lucy doesn't know about my skills in other weapons because if I take a different weapon then she's expecting I'll beat her" Bloom noted then stepped up silently to the stand.

"Hello Bloom, new hair?" Lucy asked.

"Same as before" Bloom replied and surprised Lucy by picking up a two-handed Falchion, a weapon that Lucy hadn't seen Bloom use before but was one Bloom was greatly appreciating after learning from the best master of said weapon; Erasiel.

"Oh, that's a new one, you're making this easy for me" Lucy remarked, with a confident grin on her face.

"You'll find I'm full of surprises" Bloom commented then the gong sounded and Bloom immediately surprised Lucy by swinging the blade with one-hand behind dodging her opening grab from the hooks, and allowing Bloom to bring the sword over her head and smack Lucy with the pommel stunning her, Bloom followed up by using the blade to hit her repeated with the pommel in the chest knocking Lucy back harder and harder until Lucy fell off the edge yelling into the motte, to the cheers from the Audience and Erasiel jumping out of his seat in surprise, not only was Bloom using a different weapon then she usually used she was using it in a way that only he could truly appreciate with his millennia of training in the weapon.

"Another point to Alfea; the score now numbers Alfea 4, Cloud Tower 7 and Red Fountain 0, if Red Fountain fails to score a point this fight they will be out of the running for this event whereupon it will be solely Alfea vs Cloud Tower" Yerka stated.

"That's a relief at least Alfea is beating Red Fountain" Bloom said to herself.

"Not for long" an annoyed voice stated, Bloom knew who it belonged to, her ex Prince Sky, who had an arrogant smirk on his face.

"You!" Bloom stated.

"Yeah I know I'm a horrible person, get over it Bloom" Sky stated arrogantly and picked up sword of the kind he usually wielded. "You know you surprise me, to think that the faeries of Alfea are capable of being this good with swords is quite impressive, the Witches of Cloud Tower I'm not surprised what with history of warrior witches, but faeries that's a new one" Sky replied.

"There have been many great Warrior Faeries, my mother was one, my Aunt Faragonda is another, and there are others too, Stella's a beast with a rapier, and Selene is honestly an equal to me in skill" Bloom replied assuming a defensive stance.

"I've been looking forward to this, I hoped against hope that I would have a chance to get back at you for making me look like an idiot in front of my father and all those people at the Exhibition last year" Sky replied.

"That incident led a war you didn't have the courage to fight in and was your fault in the first place, hundreds died on our side and hundreds of thousands possibly a million on the Lighthaveners side and all you care about is your image; I'm glad I broke up with you, because you have to be the most selfish, egotistic, smuggest, vainest, twisted man I've ever met, you heartbreaker" Bloom replied, the Gong sounded.

"I didn't kill those Lighthaven monks you did" Sky retorted and that made Bloom angry, Sky used his anger to his advantage leveraging a series of counters against Bloom each putting her solely on defense.

"After what you did: You- I'm out of words to describe how vile you are" Bloom stated then noted he was manipulating her, then she used something against him, a series of taunts that called into Sky's very being and insulted him dearly causing him to lose his cool and his focus, Bloom then let her anger fuel her attacks, her eyes turned to flaming coals from their normal blue her irises fading leaving only flames in her eyes, as she delivered blow after blow after heavy strike and slice and smash against Sky pushing him back further and further her anger as this point caused her blade ignite and with a slice she burned Sky under his eyes leaving a painful scar as she hit him harder and harder in her blind rage eventually she heard the snapping of bones as she hit him with a pommel though the sword hadn't been designed to break bones the amount of strength Bloom in anger was putting out was painful, she then snapped flung her sword to the side and proceeded to beat into his face with her fists bloodying his face and bruising it badly, officials wanted to intervene but Erasiel refused to allow them to as it was his arena and in this case he wanted Bloom to get out all of her anger out of Sky before she knocked him out of the competition, Sky's face was bloodied as he spat out a tooth and swallowed another as Bloom smashed his face then bashed his chest repeatedly where more ribs snapped, then she picked him up by the legs and began to spin him around before flinging him off the platform into the watery motte below however Sky hit the edge of the motte-wall injuring his ribs further before he splashed down into the water.

Bloom came out of her rage and noted her surroundings: she saw her sword on the side of the platform, a stunned crowd, the scoreboard which now labeled Alfea and Cloud Tower only, Bloom then noticed the blood on her gloved hands and the normally white platform, and finally at Sky, badly beaten and being dragged out on a stretcher. "What have I done?" Bloom asked mentally to Lockette.

"You went berserk and beat the living crap out of Sky" Lockette replied, Bloom then noted the judges stand where Erasiel, who had left his box upon the drawing of blood and the flame eyes, he stood next to the judges and Master of Ceremonies who were debating on what to do after seeing what just happened.

With Erasiel… "Alright I'm going over this again, first off there is no statute against unnecessary roughness in the dueling phase of the tournament so there can be no disqualification on those grounds, second this was a match up that I knew would be trouble the moment Yerka called those two names. We all heard the comments both of them made to each other, we all know they both exs, we all know that Bloom's actions aren't a reason to disqualify her from the competition, however it is enough to that she has counted herself out from the rest of fights" Erasiel explained.

"Attention, in the wake of deliberation Bloom will no longer be allowed to compete in this event, however all points she scored are regarded as safe, Red Fountain is out of this event and marks their first serious loss of the day; we move on with next two names in the role for Alfea and Cloud Tower teams and will not stop the bouts until only one team is still in the competition; as such will Stella of Alfea and Nimeria of Cloud Tower take their positions in dueling circle" Yerka explained.

The two otherwise friends took their places in the circle and began their fight, Nimeria was a great fighter but she was out of her league against Stella who was arguably the best swordfighter at Alfea, it was a one-sided bout that resulted in Nimeria just like everyone before her landing splat in the motte. "Next challenger" Stella stated confidently.

So, began the grind, every witch on the team of Cloud Tower who hadn't competed took their turns against Stella and each one got defeated, eventually it came to a show down between her and Darcy. "How thematic light vs darkness" Erasiel commented from his box. This fight was absurdly fierce, it lasted longer than any of the previous fights, Stella held a decent advantage but not the one she held in the beginning as she was fatigued heavily, but she still had energy to allow her to continue, eventually however Darcy nearly overwhelmed Stella, Stella then countered with a series of lightning strikes which caught Darcy off guard and off balance and resulted in her going splashdown to the cheering of the crowd.

"Thank you my adoring fans!" Stella replied, then exited via the ramp.

"You did amazing Stella!" Bloom congratulated.

"I told you I would excel in the Sword fighting event, also I've saved Flora the trouble of having to fight Darcy" Stella replied.

"Still that's only one part of three competitions in the tournament" Flora stated hesitantly.

Shortly… "The next event for the Tournament is free for all, where all three teams will participate against each other, this event is a must win for Red Fountain and Cloud Tower or risk being eliminated, for this event the teams will engage in a game of Storm-ball, where each team will be attempting to send the most balls into the grand hoops as possible, the catch is that only one ball will be on the field at any time, as such you will have to fight for them, each round will last 30 minutes and there will 5 rounds in total, the team that scores the most points wins the event" Yerka explained. "In the wake of the previous event Prince Sky of Eraklyion received series injuries, as a result of said injuries he will no longer be allowed to compete the Red Fountain team will have to make do without him" Yerka added, earning annoyed yells from the team.

Erasiel teleported over using his ring and grabbed the microphone for Yerka. "Those are the rules, no substitutions or removing members from the other teams for fair play, this tournament is meant to bring out the best in the competitors and for the schools to prove their the better of the three regardless of how many participants are still on the team, now that that that's out of the way: PLAY BALL!" Erasiel stated then handed the microphone to his Gnome colleague.

"Yes indeed, Play Ball!" Yerka stated and a sizeable ball landed in the center of the field while three massive hoops opened up on the other side of the field, each of those hoops had a large chute behind where the balls would end up going back down and back into the field. The game commenced, each side employed various tactics to keep the other from scoring points, the Red Fountain team was left with simply grabbing the ball and keeping it from the Alfea and Cloud Tower teams, this strategy didn't work because of the trickery employed by the Witches of Cloud Tower who feigned openings to trick both sides into thinking they had a good path to the goal posts only to be wrestled down by two or more witches with another witch scoring the goal augmented by magic spells that were suited to this event as they allowed them to control the field, this strategy was something that was near impossible to counter for the other teams because the Trix kept having their team change strategy so that each time they employed a faint it was completely different from the previous one they used, this kept going on for the entire match with Cloud Tower scoring the most points 240 to Alfea's 67 and Red Fountain's 48, the resulting victory gave Cloud Tower a lead, one that knocked Red Fountain out of the competition.

The Red Fountain team withdrew from the field, Sky was done, and his team was bested, Leona who was team captain in Sky's place gave both Icy and Bloom congratulations for their victories, then withdrew with the other specialists.

In Erasiel's box… "Shame I was hoping Red Fountain would win this year" Saladin stated.

"You have a personal bias in that my friend, besides Red Fountain hasn't won since Esdeath graduated" Griffin replied.

"Yes she truly was Red Fountain's best, in fact it's been a while since a member of House Trix attended Cloud Tower" Saladin remarked.

"I'm not transferring mine thank you very much, besides you know that Esdeath isn't going to inherit the throne of Whisperia" Griffin replied.

"She is still a Princess of House Trix's royal branch and that alone is honorary enough, also she happens to have been the best student in Red Fountain's history, not even my daughter Helia can claim that" Saladin commented.

"Yes, best in her school, I've yet to see a Trix though from Alfea that can claim such" Faragonda commented.

"That's because there aren't any Fairies in House Trix, the idea of a Trix fairy is about as absurd an idea I've ever heard, the odds of that are less than getting struck by an asteroid and surviving" Griffin retorted.

"Please I've been there and done that, it might happen one day" Erasiel remarked.

"Do they always argue about this sort of thing?" Priscilla asked Erasiel.

"Of course, the do, especially Griffin and Faragonda they're twin sisters, they've had arguments with each other since birth" Erasiel replied.

"I'd hate to think what would have happened if Stella had a twin sister" Princess Luna remarked.

"Trust me I know what it's like to have a twin sister, it's not fun" Erasiel replied.

"Yes, you told me about her; Eris I believe her name is" Luna replied.

"Considering my first death came from her you can see why we don't get along" Erasiel stated.

"Quite you two, something's happening" Luna remarked (The other Luna)

On que Yerka stepped up to the microphone once again, there had been a brief intermission to allow the teams to get themselves in order. "Alright the time has come for the final event, the one that determines our tournament winner: the drawing challenge; but don't think this determines the winner no this drawing determines the event: we will soon release a large basket which will open up to release 76 sheets of paper, an archer will fire his bow and that arrow will determine our final challenge" Yerka stated, then gestured to the hot air balloon which hovered over the field; a passenger on board dropped down the sheets of paper, each was unreadable from the distance, suddenly a wood elf bowman clad in the green raiment typical of his folk notched an arrow, drew back her bow and fired it faster than the blink of an eye. The arrow flew and pierced its target a specific sheet of paper which landed on the judges table. "Councilmen Givelian would you please read the challenge" Yerka requested.

"Yes, the challenge is the fear challenge!" Givelian announced to the shock of the audience and to Erasiel's surprise. The ground quaked cracks opening up in the ground of the arena, Erasiel was impassive, suddenly a rain cloud was summoned by Yerka, and the rain poured into the ground, suddenly out of the ground came large tangling vines, which attempted to attack the two teams who immediately transformed into their combat forms.

"Blizzard Buzzsaws!" Icy casted and a barrage of ice carved into spinning blades tore into the vines to minimal effect. "Crap these aren't normal plants" Icy remarked.

"Yes no kidding" Musa replied and felt a vine wrap around her right leg. "Sonic blast!" Musa casted and a flurry of soundwaves caused the vine to dissolve off her leg, Icy sent out more buzz saws but the shredded vines split off to grow more vines which began to creep into the stands.

"Those vines aren't Creeping Ivy" Erasiel stated then jumped out of his seat grabbing his microphone. "Everyone! Evacuate the lower booths! Those aren't Creeping Ivy plants they're Sequoia-serpaliverous-swifta! Highly Dangerous! EVERYONE WITH FIRE MAGIC! TORCH THEM!" Erasiel yelled.

Bloom steadied herself as the vines wrapped around her and those around her. "Dragon Energy!" Bloom yelled and casted, a colossal fiery dragon burst from her torching the plants around her.

"Death of Nature!" Flora casted and rotted more of the plants, but they kept coming.

"Oblivion Fire!" Trixie casted flinging black fire at the plants and burning them.

"We need to stop the problem at its source or they'll keep coming" Francis yelled.

"You're right" Lin Poo stated. "Bloom, Flora, Anastacia, Amaryl, Kimmy, Mirta follow me, we need to go into those cracks if we can stop these plants at the source" Lin Poo stated, she was a beautiful fairy with bright pink hair. Her hair is curled in to buns on the sides of her head. Her Charmix form was similar to Kimmy's it consisted of mauve bikini top that had hot pink trim and strip down the middle and a mauve skirt with a cut in the left side and has pale yellow trim with a strip down the middle. Her shoes are hot pink boots with pale yellow trim and she wore hot pink swiggly arm-bands on both arms. Her wings were lime green with blue and had a pattern to them like dragonfly wings. "Follow me!" Lin-Poo barked "Everyone else try and hold them back!" She added and was followed by Kimmy who's Charmix consisted of pale blue bikini top that has pale yellow trim and strip down the middle and a pale pink skirt with a cut in the left side and has pale yellow trim with a strip down the middle. Her shoes were pale blue boots with pale yellow trim and she wore pale yellow swiggly arm-bands on both arms. Her wings were hot pink. Kimmy was followed by Anastacia, who's Charmix consisted of a blue crop-top and blue shorts, she had light blue wings, who was followed by Mirta, then Amaryl then Bloom and lastly Flora.

They flew down into one of the crags and descended downwards, suddenly a number of Cave goblins who had been brought in to make the challenge harder attacked them. "Starburst Cluster!" Amaryl casted and large cluster of miniature stars crashed into the goblins burning them and causing them to scatter about in agony.

"Mournwave!" Mirta casted and large wave of umbral energy disintegrated the surviving goblins, then more vines came in their direction.

"Really Goblins? Who thought goblins and deadly vines would be a good mix" Anastacia stated to Flora, "Shatterpulse!" Anastacia casted and series of rings of power proceeded out from her palm enlarging in size and shredding vines while leaving her allies unharmed.

"They said it was a Fear challenge!" Flora replied. "Thorn wall!" Flora casted and large thick wall blocked the cavern entrances where the vines were entering.

"I don't find this even remotely scary" Anastacia remarked.

"Come on we don't have time we need to find the roots now!" Lin Poo stated, and everyone followed her. They made their way thru a maze of caverns battling vines and cave goblins along the way, soon they came to large central cavern were a number of large roots wrapped around the catacombs, in the center was a large monstrous plant with a large pumpkin shaped head with gapping maw of teeth and red hungering eyes a number smaller heads were near to the larger one.

"These aren't normal Triple Ss, no these are Sequoia-Supreme-Devourer seeds!" Flora yelled. "This is a highly rare and highly dangerous species of Sequoia-serpaliverous-swifta, the most aggressive of this genus and an extremely deadly one at that, this is beyond the safety of a traditional competition" Flora added.

"Now I can see why they call this the fear challenge" Anastacia stated then gulped.

"Don't lose focus girls! HEY UGLY I'VE SEEN FLOWERS MORE TERRIFYING THEN YOU!" Lin Poo yelled. "Starfury Surge!" Lin Poo casted, sent a cascade of pink flames in the direction of the root burning the plant and causing it to let out a scream which was followed by the spewing of thorns flung from its vines and spat from its mouth.

"Burning Barrier!" Bloom casted and large fiery shield disintegrated the barrage.

"By the Powers of Absolute Darkness I bring forth an umbral tide of shadow blades!" Mirta casted with utter surety and harmony in her voice, a great tide of umbral purple blades of many types and defying the ability for description sliced and diced the vines and removed some of the smaller heads sending them falling to the cavern floor.

"In the name of Sharukanaath First and mightiest I call forth flame to burn these vines away, burn them all! Burn them All! Burn them ALL!" Bloom casted her voice increasing in tempo and fury at the end, a massive wall of flames burned the roots disintegrated the head of the great plant its screams echoing over the caverns, in the arena above the remaining vines burst into flame and turned into ash as they were torched by the Eternal Flame.

Bloom flew out of the crack in the center which was opened by the death of the main plant and was followed by the rest of the team, to the cheers of the crowds and of everyone in the arena itself. "This is amazing, in spite of the hazards of this challenge the Alfea team has done it, in wake of winning the Challenge of Fear Alfea has won the Magic Tournament" Yerka announced to the cheering of the audience.

A few minutes latter and a cracks had receded, and the Arena was now cleaned of the remnants of the challenge. Erasiel was in the center of the Arena joined by fellow members of the Wizard's Council. "I am amazed, I've not seen a final challenge this good in 20 years with regards to this tournament, in regards to the teams this day, Alfea and Cloud Tower brought their best, Red Fountain did not bring a strong team and as such didn't win any of the events, however this does not excuse the efforts of Alfea and Cloud Tower who brought their best teams I've seen in years, as such the time has come for the awards to be given out with regards to this tournament and as Yerka has already declared Alfea is victorious though not by much, Cloud Tower put up the best competitive duelists I've ever seen in the sword-fighting challenge and their tactics allowed them to dominate in the ball game, however it was not enough to compete with the cohesion of the Alfea team in the Fear Challenge as such it is with great pride and by the authority of the Wizard's Council I present this years Tri-Schools cup to Bloom, Team captain of Alfea College for Faeries!" Erasiel announced to the cheers of the audience, Givelian then handed Bloom the trophy.

"Bloom do you have anything to say about your team's victory?" Yerka inquired.

"I do in fact, I'm not the one who deserves this trophy, my team does but among our team the one who deserves it the most is Lin Poo, her cool-head and quick thinking allowed us to defeat the Supreme Triple Ss and win the challenge" Bloom explained then handed the trophy to Lin Poo, who smiled and blushed.

"Alright Girls lets give a round of applause for Lin Poo!" Stella yelled, and cheers of Lin Poo went up from the Alfea team and were joined by the Cloud Tower team in that regard and Lin Poo found herself being carried off in a mosh pit by her team mates and opponent team mates alike.

Later that day…. "I am glad to announce that in the wake of Alfea's tournament victory the measure to increase the school's funding in addition to those of Cloud Tower and Red Fountain has passed unanimously" Erasiel stated. "However in the wake of a rare and dangerous breed of Sequoia-serpaliverous-swifta being put in place of Creeping Ivy I am ordering a council investigation into the matter, unfortunately I don't think that is will bare any fruit as there is no remaining evidence to be investigated, the security footage was lost along with a number of other things caused by the rampage of the plant" Erasiel added.

"Head of Council, I suggest that Abolithon may have been behind the sabotage" Yerka stated.

"I agree with that notion, perhaps he was intending to create a diversion in which to allow himself to gather more information as to the whereabouts of the Codex fragments" Givelian added.

"There is logic in that suggestion, however I find it unlikely that Abolithon was able to acquire a rare genus of Sequoia-serpaliverous-swifta much less infiltrate the arena" Balthazar Gelt remarked.

"I wouldn't put it beyond reasonable doubt" Irietta replied.

"Whether or not Abolithon was involved with the matter remains to be seen, as such a through investigation into the matter will be launched, as such Councilman Yerka will look into the matter as his position of Master of Ceremonies makes it his responsibility with all matters concerning the tournament, now this session is over, I have other matters to tend, Council dismissed" Erasiel replied, then left followed by other members of the council.

Inside the Council Chambers… "My plans have suffered a setback; however I will find a way to get my agenda thru somehow" Givelian thought, then noted Erasiel leave.

"I trust you are aware of the consequences of your actions" Yerka stated to Givelian. "You are quite fortunate that no lives were lost with regards to the events of your tampering with Creeping Ivy however next time lives may be lost, consider this experience a lesson, in the future however I will be less lenient in regards to your actions Givelian, the Head of the Council appointed me to monitor you for those reasons however he sees much potential in you, if he didn't you would have been out of the council already, do not do this again" Yerka explained.

"I will find another way to get my agenda thru" Givelian replied.

"Yes but you shall do so without endangering the lives of innocents, that behavior leads to the corrupting path that many have walked and fallen to the sway of evil, try not to do the same" Yerka replied. Both noted Erasiel taking off on his Space Strider.

"At least I still have my leverage on him" Givelian commented and Yerka laughed.

"If you think you can blackmail him with that information you're backing the wrong horse, he is fully aware of your attempts to blackmail him and what your attempting to blackmail him with is common knowledge among members of the council" Yerka replied. "Including me" he added with a wink.

"Very well like I said I have other means of getting my agenda done" Givelian stated destroying the film with flame from his palms.

Later at Alfea… Erasiel's quarters… Lin Poo had come to his office. "I've come here as you asked my love" Lin Poo stated to Erasiel who sat at his desk. Lin locked the door behind her.

"Griselda has been tasked by me to go and represent Alfea in the investigation into the incident at the end of the Tournament as such she won't be around to bother you or anyone else" Erasiel remarked.

"Good news then, that means no ones going to bug us" Lin Poo stated, she removed her yellow shirt and her blue short-skirt, she wore underwear that was mauve and hot pink like her Charmix form in addition to it she wore hot pink stockings, the overall aesthetic of her underwear was lacey.

"Yes now for a real reward" Erasiel stated using magic to strip to his underwear, he walked over to Lin Poo and kissed her then picked her up and carried her to his bed.

"The champion gets her real prize" Lin Poo remarked and unhooked her bra revealing her DD cup breasts, Erasiel kissed her on the lips then kissed her neck and kissed her lower and lower and removed her thong and began lick at her lower lips. Lin Poo began moaning and moaned harder as Erasiel inserted two fingers in to stimulate her alongside his tongue, he used his free hand to massage her right breast. Erasiel's tongue moved like he was licking an ice cream cone, his fingers moved with the pace of an experienced pianist, all the while Lin Poo moaned, eventually she reached her limit, which didn't take long to reach as Erasiel noted her barrier was intact with the probing of his fingers, she let loose and orgasm fluids over Erasiel's face which he liked clean. "That felt amazing let me do the same for you" Lin Poo remarked.

Erasiel laid back facing towards the door, Lin Poo smiled her lavender eyes shinning in the moonlight from his window, she then removed his boxer shorts and ran her hands thru his feathery tail. "It's so soft, your feathers are" Lin Poo commented then looked at Erasiel's length which was fully ready for her, she teased it with her left-hand feeling the feathers that grew around and on the loins in place of hair, the feathers were purple. "It's so soft, I expected it to be more I don't rough, but given the fact I've never touched on of these much less seen one outside of books and films on the subject I'm- honest amazed, but I shouldn't be talking- less talking more well" Lin Poo explained then lowered her head and began to lick the length, her left hand holding on while she used her right hand to grab the soft feathers of his tail which were a mix of purple and orange, she noted the letter E above his stomach, then took the length into her mouth slowly taking a slow and steady pace to ease herself into it.

"You are doing good; don't worry you'll get better at it given time" Erasiel commented. "Also could you rub one of your fingers on one of nipples I enjoy that" Erasiel added, Lin Poo obliged taking her right hand using her finger to move his left nipple about to Erasiel's smile. "Oh yes" Erasiel moaned. As she continued her licking Lin Poo thought that it would be a good idea to wrap her breasts around his length and she massaged it slowly at first then intensified her pace.

Her efforts continued for 10 minutes until Erasiel unloaded a creamy bukkake on her face, she licked it off. "Chocolate" Lin Poo replied. Erasiel got up and picked Lin Poo up and turned her around. "So its going to hurt right?" Lin Poo commented.

"Not too much, trust me I've done this so many times, it will hurt for a bit then it will stop" Erasiel stated then entered her bum, pain wracked Lin's face as she where she had been leaning before fell flat on her chest, and let out a loud yelp of both pain and pleasure.

"That's-"Lin started to say, but Erasiel mounted her and continued to thrust in, then the pain faded and all that remained was pleasure, Lin moaned into the pillow where her head fallen onto, as Erasiel continued his enjoyment.

Outside… "Where is Nathan" Bloom asked Faragonda.

"He retired to his quarters for the night" Faragonda stated.

"That's a shame I was going to ask him more about my parents" Bloom replied.

"Trust me Bloom you're better of asking him in the morning, go get some rest it's nearly time for everyone to go to sleep, I'm sure looking forward to sleeping" Faragonda stated then yawned. "I need my beauty sleep" she remarked and left Bloom alone. Bloom continued down the hall pass Erasiel's room where she heard moans. "Of course" Bloom thought to herself passed right by heading back to her dorm, which incidentally was not to far from his office, as was intentional on his part in case Bloom had any more seizures or dreams related to her family as well as to allow him to be their reliable alarm clock more so than any thing else.

Erasiel continued his thrusts but he was going to eventually reach his limit and thus braced himself for it, he had since pulled Lin Poo back onto his chest so as to allow him to both kiss her and play with her breasts, he also played with her unique hairstyle which was something of an oddity with donut shaped buns. Erasiel of course within moments of knowing he was reaching his limit did exactly that and unloaded into Lin's rectum before pulling out. "Now for the piaster résistance" Erasiel stated.

"Yes now doing you want to be on top or have me be on top" Lin stated.

"Does it matter to you? I can do whatever position you want me to, I know them all" Erasiel asked.

"Give me something exotic then, I'd like my first time to be special and memorable" Lin replied.

"Alright well lay back, I'll lean on my side and you move next to me" Erasiel instructed, Lin moved over taking the T-pose, Erasiel then entered her, taking her virginity, Lin felt no pain on this. "See its not so bad, this is why I take the rear barrier first so as to make the main thing less painful" Erasiel explained, Lin giggled.

"I can see why, oh this feels good, I hardly felt a thing when, ugh, entered ugh me- ugh" Lin replied her words turned into moans as Erasiel continued his thrusts, he wrapped her legs around him as he went deeper. Erasiel kept this pose and kept his thrusts, increasing them and then lowering them. Eventually Lin changed position a few minutes in assuming the missionary position, Erasiel then began to drink from Lin's left breast as his efforts has left him parched and he drank gladly, Lin's moans continued as she smiled.

In between another alternation moving to scissor position Erasiel asked something "Lin I never asked but where are you from exactly?"

"Whisperia, Princess Varanda Di Calisto and I are roommates" Lin stated.

"You know I placed your accent oh!" Erasiel stated.

"Yes!" Lin stated.

"I think I found your g-spot" Erasiel remarked and proceeded to head there again.

"Ah, you know, I'm not worried about consequences, I want your children screw anyone's opinion about it, I want kids do you?" Lin stated.

"Are you sure, because I can control that, once I decided to let out a fertile load there's a one-hundred percent chance of that happening, two months faster then the average pregnancy" Erasiel replied.

"I don't care, on Whisperia its considered important to be honest above all else, you don't have sex just for fun, you do it solely with someone you love and with the end goal being children, so yes, even though my parents will certainly be irate about it they'll just have to put up with it, you're super rich I'm not worried about my children's future we can even marry each other, so please I've thought it thru, I wouldn't take our relationship to this level without doing so it's just now felt like as good a time as ever" Lin stated and Erasiel kissed her.

"Alright you convinced me, one fertile load coming up, literally right now!" Erasiel replied and unloaded into her, they then threw the covers over each other and continued to the late in a night when both passed out.


	35. Arc 2 Chapter 9

Chapter 9: A Race Against Time and Pixies

In Shadowhaunt…. "The time has come my sons to implement the next phase of my plan" Abolithon stated his blood red hair flowing despite his helm.

"It's been weeks since we last did anything what's been the delay?" Retribution asked bluntly.

"What has been the delay? Two things Retribution, one gathering the materials for this ritual and two the Weather, I need a clear day for the ritual, under high noon and with no rainclouds in sight, and so far it has been nothing but Lightning storms and cloudy days for the past week thanks in no small part to the practicing from those Witches at Cloud Tower getting ready for that Magical Tournament, now however we have a clear day and I have the materials ready to preform the spell" Abolithon stated.

"And what exactly is the spell going to do?" Ambition asked.

"It will cause the Pixies to sleep walk outside of Alfea and under my control, and cause them to be homesick, rather homesick so much that they will stop at nothing to get home, then once they are on their way Deception will recapture them and I'll finally be able to get a Codex fragment, one of those Pixies is Darkar's daughter and the Princess of the Pixies, she would be a perfect trade for a Codex fragment" Abolithon explained.

"That's cunning and well thought out father, one problem; Darkar doesn't let those Pixies out of his sight, especially his daughter, he and the Winx are sharp and they will notice if they go missing" Deception remarked.

"Which is why I'm only sending one of you three, if I send all three of you one of you is likely to give away the whole thing, now I'm aware of the risks but this should work" Abolithon stated.

Meanwhile at Alfea… Flora was lost in a daydream as she was focused on Erasiel ignoring most of what Professor Palladium was saying while drowning out Chatta's load of chatter from her mental link, her current daydream was about her and Erasiel getting married, it helped that Erasiel had given her a picture he drew of her earlier much to her enjoyment. The Current lesson was on how important it was to word a spell. "In wording a spell it is important to remember that that one syllable out of place will cause the spell to do something completely different from its intended purpose" Palladium stated.

"In other words, a wrongly worded spell might accidently turn you into a Chaos Spawn" Erasiel added.

"Exactly, now as you can see the chest hovering in the center of the room, it is locked and unlocking it will require you to use an unlocking cantrip as so: Expedio Catenam!" Palladium continued and casted, forming a leaf with his wand and unlocking the chest, which he then proceeded to lock again. "As you can see the effects are of a properly cast spell are exactly as intended now for someone else to cast this to demonstrate it" Palladium added.

"Alright; Flora" Erasiel stated then turned to her. "Flora" Erasiel called, then said Flora again. "Flora!" Erasiel shouted. Flora broke out of her daydream. "While I love having girls study my appearance, I prefer them to focus on studying other things while they're in school" Erasiel lectured.

"Sorry Nat- Professor Darkar sir" Flora replied.

"It's alright now can you cast the spell Professor Palladium just demonstrated.

"Sure I can do that" Flora commented. "Exaggero Catenas" Flora casted and some kittens materialized on Palladium and turned into large fluffy balls of cuteness, to the sheer laughter of everyone bar Palladium.

"HA! Flora you are just like me when I daydream, you remember the spell but get the words wrong" Erasiel remarked, than continued laughing.

"Professor Darkar" Palladium stated.

"Not now Palladium Exaggero- HAHAHAHHAAHAHHA!" Erasiel stated then continued laughing before preforming a flourish with a wand he pulled out of his sleeve, the wand was golden and decorated with gold and with the handle having an ornate figure of a dragon's head like the one on his staff it was topped by a small Star Sapphire, he then dropped. "Expedio Catenas" Erasiel casted and dropped a bunch of kittens on everyone's desks to collective cries of so cute.

"Never mind I think that concludes today's lesson, I can't work this out with him in this mood" Palladium thought to himself. "Any questions" Palladium asked rhetorically but no one was paying attention to him as the students were otherwise engaged in collective gasps of so cute and playing with kittens.

The next two classes were far more serious with Professor Avalon giving a through lecture on the applications and dangers of various magic items, followed by Bloom once again demonstrating sword fighting with the sword that Avalon had given to her last time she demonstrated sword fighting.

The blade had since been reforged and reinforced with Relix by Erasiel though it kept the orange hue it originally had, the colichemarde sword which was the type of the weapon had been decorated elaborately when Bloom had asked Erasiel to reforge the sword for her she hadn't expected him to go over the top and decorate it with ornate electrum hand guard which was decorated by pearls and rubies nor the dragon head on the cross guard or the dragon tail wrap, all in electrum and reinforced with Relix , also the over all lightness of the blade was a significant, where the blade had been light before it felt now like an extension of her own arm. Bloom named the sword Shimmering Dragon, she sparred with Stella often and overall regretted it every time because their sparring sessions resulted most of the time with Stella kicking her butt and causing her to fall flat on her butt, as if to make it more humiliating Stella added the touch of pointing her blade at whatever part of the body she had been aiming for mostly the neck and saying "Dead." While this had been teasing on Stella's part it didn't really do wonders for Bloom's self esteem but granted she had only been learning the art of dueling and fencing vs traditional swordplay for a few months now, and while could handle herself well with a broadsword, the more slender blades were trouble, Stella on the other hand had been practicing sword play since she was six in accustom with her position and was Solaria's self-proclaimed best duelist and had a number of tournament and duels under her belt before she even met Bloom.

This relationship was further complicated by the fact that Avalon noted this and decided to assign Stella the honor of countering her in tests of artifact weapons, bouts which usually resulted in Stella winning 8 times out of 10. Fortunately he didn't do this all the time and usually paired her against someone else. Today's class proved to be that case and of course the results impressed both Avalon and Erasiel. Soon Lunch came, and people noticed something in the Courtyard which caused everyone to rush outside.

A portal opened and out came a Two headed Dragon followed by some other dragons all had riders, and they were followed by a massive carriage pulled by two dragons which was accompanied by a number of pegasi riders carrying banners and few more Dragons carrying what appeared to be baggage and a lot of it. "What's going on?" Bloom asked.

"By the looks of things, Whisperian royalty" Erasiel commented

"How can you tell" Bloom asked.

"I have very good eyesight, also the rider on the two-headed dragon is obviously Princess Esdeath" Erasiel noted "Before you ask how I know that it's the banners above the Palanquin, which is notable because you know she's not on the warpath" Erasiel explained further.

"Why are they here?" Bloom asked.

"No idea but judging by their flight pattern they are heading for Red Fountain, which means I'm going to need to Riven" Erasiel commented.

"Why?" Bloom asked.

"To find out what's going on, you don't have Esdeath show up somewhere unless it is extremely important also the dragons riders are Supreme Militum Guard, also there is still the matter of the carriage; someone important has come to Magix and the Emperor Darancar XVIII of Whisperia thinks that who ever it is requires Esdeath and 16 dragon riders as escort" Erasiel commented, then pulled out his phone.

Meanwhile…. Esdeath observed the forest of Magix, noting that it hadn't changed much in the four years since she graduated from Red Fountain granted there were a few new craters around Cloud Tower but that wasn't unusual, then there was the saddening ruins of the Old Red Fountain Academy which had been leveled by the Lighthaveners a year ago, soon she made her approach to the new School, which she liked the design, made from latest in high tech engineering and funded exclusively by the head of the Wizard's Council so she heard. "Riders make ready, honor guard landing patterns, clear the courtyard for approach" Esdeath ordered via a headset, then opened another comm pattern. "Red Fountain Air control: this is Crown Princess Esdeath of Whisperia, clear the courtyard of any people to allow for our Dragons to land unobstructed, if anyone is still in the Courtyard when we land, well they'll find I'm not in the mood to wait" Esdeath remarked.

"We read you Princess we will do as instructed" The control tower communications officer replied.

"Good. Also inform Headmaster Saladin I will be expecting him to be there to great me: no excuses" Esdeath added.

"Yes your highness" the Operator replied.

Shortly…. Saladin descended down the stairs into the main Courtyard where a number of Dragons and Pegasi had already landed, they were followed by Yendral the massive two-headed Dragon of Princess Esdeath Trix of Whisperia with said princess herself dismounting, as the Carriage landed. Esdeath went to the carriage and opened the door allowing the guards to disembark followed by the passengers. Saladin noted Esdeath who was clad in a luxurious gown of many colors which was festooned with gems and precious metals with a special bracelet on her arms which was a powerful magical Artifact, she wore a mantle of glorious crimson but it was enchanted with powerful spells, on her back was a massive greatsword Rospera Grandus the weapon of the Magister Militum the head of the Whisperian military which Esdeath held, in addition to this was an small golden orb on her waist alongside a long rapier that was as long as Esdeath's own arm, these were obvious notes about her appearance. Esdeath herself was a massive 6'8 easily allowing her to tower over 5'2 Saladin, her hair was deep Aqua and was long going down half her back and decorated with diadems and an ornate wire crown of mithril and festooned with opals and sapphires, her figure was athletically strong, her most distinguishing feature was one of the two Royal Birthmarks had by members of the Royal House Trix, the mark was that of a capital Y with crosses like those of a T atop the lines in a pattern of a partial circle, said mark resided at the base of her neck above the cleavage of her breasts which were massive F-cups, her height was added to by high healed shoes, Esdeath had no shortage of magic artifacts on her person, including an Amulet which she wore, her magic skills were beyond those of even Saladin, she was no nonsense and would not take no for answer or suffer any insult lightly, her face was stern and she rarely smiled.

"Headmaster Saladin it is good to see you again: I've come here on important business, it concerns family matters, specifically your newest students; my half-sisters Akame and Kurome, they have graduated ahead of schedule and of anyone else in Whisperia's Royal magic Academy and are the best Battle Mages in school' history, in light of that my Father has sent them here to Red Fountain for additional education, they have with them two of Whisperia's most powerful Artifacts, I am entrusting the security of them and of their royal guards to you, I expect nothing less than stellar results, also keep the male population of the school from flirting with them, their less forgiving of slights then me if that gives you any ideas about them" Esdeath explained.

"I will do exactly as you ask, especially since this is coming from this school's greatest student, trust me they will be right at home here, also I will do my best to keep them protected" Saladin stated.

"Yes indeed, I expect nothing less, now as to recent events I was certain that sending my sisters here is absolutely needed especially with the lack-luster performance at the Tri-Schools Tournament, I'm seriously disappointed in the Red Fountain team, though I'm glad that the team captain was suitably punished for his failure by the opposing combatant" Esdeath replied.

"I'm aware, but as you can see here I am of late required to cater to the position of students in their status, the Team was selected to accommodate that" Saladin stated.

"I understand that, side note Akame and Kurome are professional killers, if any of your students give them a reason to kill them they won't hesitate to do so, also I trust you will endeavor to make sure that this fact is common knowledge, other then there are few things, also don't interfere with them if decide to go hunting, it's important for them to hone themselves with actual dangers, mainly any Danger Beasts of any level save true SSS Rank, other then that I'm not worried: I will now allow them to introduce themselves to you: also make sure you buy lots of meat, Akame will eat all of it and don't touch Kurome's candy if you value your hands and your life" Esdeath explained and stepped aside to allow the two sisters to step forward.

Both were of similar builds, their height was average though one was slightly taller than the other, their figures overall were fit and their breasts while ample were not as massive as their half-sister's, they wore black and red gowns, and had pale Asian skin with blood red eyes in Akame's case and Black eyes in Kurome's and they both black hair, one had long black hair and other short black hair, their attire consisted of gowns which were black and Red but decorated with garnets and onyxes studded in silver threading, with images of skulls, their birth marks were on opposite shoulders, the gown allowed for that mark to stay visible leaving the shoulder bare, in their hair were death-head ribbons and ornate diadems interwoven with golden wire studded with onyxes, they wore headdresses of noble design and carried ornate fans, each had at their side a Katana with a black hit, the weapons themselves made of Relix. "It's nice to meet you Headmaster Saladin, I am Akame Ga Kiru Evenai Trix and this is my twin sister Kurome Ga Kira Trix" the Long-haired sister stated. "These are our retainers and Handmaidens" Akame added pointed to the heavily armed women who had accompanied them. "I trust you will provide us and them proper accommodations befitting us and meat- I mean Lunch, I mean meat to eat" Akame continued, then blushed.

"Don't worry I will see to it you and your sister receive the finest dorm on campus" Saladin replied.

"Good because we packed heavy" Kurome stated and with that one of the dragons came over with large amount of luggage, which a number of retainers began to unload.

"I trust you will fill out the necessary paperwork yourself, I would love to stay but I have other matters to tend to, namely another suitor who my father tests my patience with, perhaps 147 with be the one if not, well all the worse for him" Esdeath stated, then turned and mounted her Dragon. "Draka Vodakh Yendral!" Esdeath shouted and her dragon took off.

"She's the only one going home to Whisperia, the rest are staying with us for 'security reasons' I say in air quotes" Kurome responded.

"Now show us to our dorm: MARCH!" Akame ordered, Saladin turned and lead them off rapidly.

Meanwhile…. Abolithon had ascended to a high outcropping above ground above Shadowhaunt, an large table had been brought with them along with a large cauldron. "Good my sons, now we prepare the mixture at noon the sun will shine upon our labors and charge the range of this spell, with the added range I will be able to hit anywhere on Magix with this spell and hit the targets I need" Abolithon explained. Abolithon then began casting, the spell strengthening with each word, eventually it was ready and green orbs materialized then teleported out of sight, they then flew inside Alfea and hit each Pixie in the school without anyone noticing as they were all outside playing Bamboozle Ball which was a sport Pixies played in their off time. "Excellent, now all we need is to wait for nightfall, their dreams should draw them back to Pixieville allowing you Deception to capture them, now we have a lot of free time now so use that to prepare yourselves" Abolithon stated.

That night… Erasiel slept with Katy, Priscilla and Luna, Luna being on top of him, they no longer slept in their dorms but with Erasiel in his room, though they kept their things in the dorm. As Erasiel slept so did Zing and Livy who slept above his head, suddenly both flew up and began sleep flying, opened Erasiel's bedroom door and joined up with other sleep flying pixies.

In the Winx Dorm Flora woke up from a nightmare and looked around her room, noted Bloom asleep in her bed, Kiko snoring in his, and two empty makeshift beds that had been made for the Pixies Lockette and Chatta, Flora got out of bed, her first instinct was to check the bathroom which she found ajar and empty, then she checked other rooms and noted the absence of pixies in general, not just Lockette and Chatta, but all the other pixies had disappeared. Flora moved to wake up Bloom. "Bloom! Bloom!" Flora tried.

"Five more minutes mom" Bloom mumbled.

"Bloom the Pixies are missing!" Flora yelled, that caused Bloom to fall out of her bed.

"Are you sure Flora; it's the middle of the night, they probably went to use the bathroom" Bloom remarked.

"Checked it, checked all them, also its not just Chatta and Lockette, all the pixies are missing" Flora replied.

"Alright we'll look into it, lets go get Nathan he'll know what to do, also that will give us the option to check on Zing and Livy and see if they are still their in his room" Bloom replied.

As Flora and Bloom went to search for Erasiel, the forest was not asleep, nor was a vistor flying about the woods, Akame Trix flew about clad in a hunting outfit with her sword Muramase in hand, she was hunting any large and monstrous creatures, when she noted several pixies fly by, something she didn't think much of at first then noted they were sleep-flying the next thing she noted was a black armored figure with wings, a Naginata, and a net heading right for them, on instinct she knew something was not even remotely right about the figure or about the situation in general and as the figure moved to throw his net Akame let magic surge thru her. "Mournblade!" Akame casted and a long spinning blade shredded the net.

"What the hell!? You'll pay for that!" Deception yelled as the Pixies flew by him, he then readied his naginata.

"Eliminate!" Akame retorted then dawned her battle form, crimson and red armor enveloped her body save her face and hair, she then charged sword in hand and attacked, the katana was parried by the naginata, thus commenced a fight of epic proportions the blows striking with precision and speed, Deception was surprised that he was receiving such a hard fight much less one from a person who was clearly no where near as old and battle hardened as himself, yet her prowess was that she was on equal footing.

"Who are you?!" Deception asked as he parried another onslaught of attacks.

"Akame Ga Kiru Trix! And you are my enemy. Eliminate!" Akame replied and a slash broke Deception's defense and slashed against his armor and to his shock thru it because of the fact this was Relix plate, which meant her weapon was a Relix weapon, he then realized he was up against a Whisperian and one with a weapon that belonged clearly to one of noble blood and one clearly made by the Phoenix armsmiths from the planet which were renowned for creating more powerful Relix weapons than anyone else save Hagan Greatsmith who's secrets were guarded harder than Fort Knox, each blow continued, then Deception trusted his instincts.

"Wave of shadows!" Deception casted and several duplicates of himself materialized around Akame and attacked with very real weapons, she was undeterred, dodged then cleaved off the heads of two of the duplicates which dissolved into shadows.

"Nice trick I can do better: Mourngate of a Thousand Umbral Blades!" Akame casted and large purple hole in the fabric of reality appeared and spewed forth purple blades of umbral energy which tore threw the duplicates and flung Deception back against a tree;.

"Father I need help" Deception stated mentally, then he had to dodge another Eliminate from Akame who had he not moved would have cleaved him clean in half, not that death mattered for a Phoenix but still the fact he would've died to someone not even remotely close to being a quarter of his own age would still be humiliating.

"Deception how many are there and how did you manage to get into trouble this quickly?" Abolithon asked.

"One and she's not even one of those Faeries or Witches, this girl is someone else, she's absurdly good at this and she's kicking my ass at the moment, she calls herself Akame if the name rings a bell, anyway I'm currently trying to avoid losing to this bitch so could you please send help to put her to task!" Deception replied.

"How the hell is one girl putting up more of fight then you can handle? You know what fine I'll send Retribution; he'll handle this, but we are going to have serious talk when you get back!" Abolithon replied irate as a blow cleaved Deception's naginata in half, he used the bladed half as a make shift sword to hold until he could draw one of his Rhettian axes which it did decently enough as he danced side to side trying to avoid a killing blow, eventually he parried with the guard spikes on one of his axes so he could draw the other one, taking up dual axes as he kept Akame on her toes, Retribution came out of a portal with his greatsword and as he was about to strike another blade caught his.

To Retribution's surprise there was another girl and this one wasn't a shadow copy of the other no this was someone else, a sister, she had Black eyes and those eyes were like singularities in space drawing him into oblivion, the newcomer was of the same physique as the other girl save for the black eyes and shorter hair. "I am Kurome and I don't appreciate people trying to kill my sister" Kurome greeted, then continued an onslaught of strikes before following up with death magic energy blasts.

As the two Pheonixes were locked in battle with the two Trix Twins: Bloom and Flora had awakened Erasiel along with Katy, Priscilla, and Luna who had followed the trail of the Pixies, as limited as it was but Erasiel's extensive knowledge in the field of Pixie tracking that allowed them to make headway and keep up with their fleetly friends. Erasiel then noted ahead something, specifically Piff laying asleep on the ground. "There you are; I figured you wouldn't fly too far before you decided to lie down again" Erasiel stated softly to his sleeping daughter, who mumbled in her sleep. "Shh, sleep Piff sweet sleep" he soothed, then cast a scanning spell, and noted the cause of her wanderings.

"What's happening to the Pixies this is completely bizarre" Flora remarked.

"It's a homesickness spell, a potent one too, definitely Abolithon's doing, I've got a clear idea that he intended to take Piff captive with this, fortunately he hadn't counted on how long my daughter will move while sleep flying before landing, and that is, about 2 miles" Erasiel remarked then turned towards Bloom. "Bloom I'm going to teach you something that will be useful for the future; the spell I'm about to cast on Piff to dispel this sickness is one all fire magic users can cast: Soothing warmth!" Erasiel casted, an orange cloud surrounded Piff and out came from her body dark energy that had been driving the spell.

"Wow I didn't know fire magic could heal" Bloom replied.

"It can, I know a number of other simple healing spells from the lore of fire that I will teach you in time, but for now I need you to do something very important; that is holding onto to Piff and keeping my little girl safe and sleeping" Erasiel replied, Bloom took the infant Pixie and held her close to her chest. "When we find the other Pixies I want you to demonstrate what I just taught you on them, I need the help in making sure we heal all of them in a timely manner" Erasiel added.

They moved thru the forest and Erasiel looked up and noted the loud clashes of metal and magic. "Wow that looks like trouble" Katy remarked.

"Don't worry its not for us, by the looks of things Abolithon's pixie catchers ran into some actual challengers" Erasiel remarked, then noted Kurome decapitate Retribution with ease before moving to assist Akame who had been pushing her luck against Deception, Kurome's surprise attack cleaved the Pheonix warrior in two. "Also by the looks of things they are dead now, the Pixies aren't under any threats now" Erasiel remarked.

Meanwhile…. "That was a shocker, Phoenix Warriors in the wilds, what's next armies of Dragons" Akame remarked.

"Those two were surprising, well how was your kill tally before you ran into him" Kurome asked.

"Two Beastmen warbands, four large mobs of Goblins about a 200 each, and one angry Mama Arachnarok Spider with her brood; in short 1750 kills" Akame replied.

"That's decent: Two Entire beastmen Warherds, a tribe of Forest Goblins, 80 bestial Minotaurs, 6 Cygors, two angry giants, a Jabersclythe, and now two Phoenix warriors: 3000 kills; I say I win" Kurome replied.

"2998, you don't get to count the two Phoenixes as kills they don't stay dead, remember our rules" Akame replied.

"Fine you still lost either way, now lets get back to Red Fountain before those idiots come back" Kurome replied and the two sisters flew off.

Erasiel and his team then found the pixies in an awkward position, caught in the web of a large red weaver spider, said spider was easy to dispatch with a flick of his wand. "Expedio Catanas!" Erasiel casted and green leaf materialized drawing the spider away from its webs. "Akhum's mind razor" Erasiel casted increasing the strength of his magic. "Slicing axe of Sharkrath!" he added and giant blade cleaved the confused spider in two, leaving the faeries to look at Erasiel in understandable amusement. "Please I'm just showing off my wand, I don't use it often usually most of the time my staff works but I didn't bring it with me did I?" Erasiel remarked, they laughed.

The temporary laughter faded and Erasiel gave them a serious expression. "Alright lets see to the Pixies" Priscilla remarked.

"We'll cut them down after we heal them: Bloom, Flora, I require your aid in that" Erasiel instructed.

"Soothing flames" Bloom casted.

"Nature's nourishment" Flora casted.

"Healing flames of Akhar!" Erasiel casted, dark energy departed from the Pixies who awoke their current situation.

"What in the name of Ninfea happened here?" Didget remarked, joined in her cries of shock by the others rapidly as they noted they were tangled in spider silk.

"A case of serious sleep walking, Abolithon's doing, don't worry as to the Spider webs, its what happens when you have no idea where you are going" Erasiel replied.

"Really?! He's gone and ruined our sleep what's he going to do next?!" Lockette replied shock.

"And this vile spider silk, it's so unkempt, and my dress and hair; I will have to spend a week recovering from this whole ordeal" Tune replied.

"And you are going to do so under strict bed rest until I'm absolutely certain that the spell had worn off entirely" Erasiel replied, they returned to Alfea as the sun dawned to find Griselda waiting for them.

"What were you doing out in the forest?" Griselda asked sternly.

"Light night class, also pixie chasing, and you didn't get any sleep did you?" Erasiel replied.

"Whether or not I slept isn't your business" Griselda remarked.

"Well it certainly isn't but it's your half-sister's business: Piff could help Griselda sleep" Erasiel replied, the Pixie Princess awakened and well rested flew up to her half-sister and sprinkled some purple sand on her as Griselda tried to run away, Griselda fell down on the ground fast asleep, Erasiel opened a portal to her room underneath and she fell into it onto her bed. "Good job Piff she needed that" Erasiel replied and Piff laughed. "Yes you're the best pixie in all of Magix yes you are" Erasiel cooed and carried Piff inside followed by Bloom and others ready for another day at Alfea


	36. Arc 2 Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Win-x Together

Shadowhaunt: later that night…. "I'm disappointed in you two, dying to a pair of Whisperian students from Red Fountain, you are Phoenixes, you are members of one of the most powerful races in the Magic Dimension, you are 577 years old, you have centuries of training in creative tactics and battle malice in addition to an arsenal of weaponry the envy of any of the lesser races and you lose to a pair of Red Fountain first year students, Retribution, Deception you are grounded" Abolithon lectured and dismissed the two Phoenixes, who had white hair and eyes from their recent resurrection, leaving him with Ambition and his two daughters. "Ambition let this be a lesson, you are to lie low I'm going to have change focus: we are going to have to find the other Codex fragments, and if Red Fountain's fragment is any indication two fragments are in the other two colleges and the final one is Pixieville, as such I will need a lead on the other two fragments and to acquire them" Abolithon explained, then turned two his daughters Rianath and Viridia, both were stunningly beautiful; Rianath had her father's crimson hair which she kept in long ponytails and was 6'1 in height (6'5 in heels) as well as his crimson eyes, her skin was lush and tanned by her personal magic, her figure was brawny but curvaceous with large E-cup Breasts and a firm fine bubble butt, her attire consisted of a crimson gown decorated with armored plates and black roses, her hair also had many of these flowers, Viridia was looked similar but her eyes were blue and hair was pink, she wore a gown similar to her sister's but was more revealing allowing her legs to be seen. "Daughters for this next task I have need of you two, I need a spy in both Alfea and Cloud Tower, and before you question me with regards to Alfea, Seraloth is a deep cover agent I'd rather keep him as a last resort, for this I require a spy who can blend in with a students and gain their trust and look around; you two will do just fine for the role" Abolithon explained.

"Yes Father we won't disappoint you" Rianath replied.

"I'll do my best dad!" Viridia remarked.

"Good now; I have a list of freshmen students for both schools, Rianath will infiltrate Cloud Tower and Viridia will infiltrate Alfea, choose a suitable student and bring them here, I will then take care of the rest, the original however will be locked up to allow for the spell to work properly, note that I have omitted any who have a relationship with Erasiel Darkar which was not an easy task" Abolithon explained, the twins combed thru the list; Rianath chose a Witch named Ederavoila and Viridia chose a fairy named Lesta, shortly they and a team of Faceless brought them back to Shadowhaunt in the dead of night.

"Now for the finishing touch, the Sphere of Arhokartar" Abolithon explained and soon both sisters explained the new identities they had just adopted to the real Lesta and Ederavoila, they then returned to the dorms of the two and assumed their new identities.

The Following day…. Faragonda sat in a desk in front of Professor Palladium's class. "Good Morning Students, you may be wondering why I'm here and Professor Palladium isn't while Professor Darkar hovers nearby; I'm here for a special class and that involves Convergences: this class is that of the second year Charmix faeries which means it is time for you to learning about convergences, a convergence is a powerful fusion of magic cast by two or more magic users and is not to be confused with the Lore of Heavens spell Harmonic Convergence, it allows multiple magic users to fuse their power to generate powerful feats of magic that can both create and destroy, the process in doing so requires harmony among the minds of the casters, all magic users are capable of casting convergence spells and doing so with different casters, but doing so requires both harmony in the casting and unity in doing so otherwise-" Faragonda explained.

"The backlash from the magic could kill one or more the casters, knock them unconscious or in worst-case scenario turn all casters involved into gibbering and abominable Chaos Spawn" Erasiel interrupted.

"Yes that, thank you my husband but I think I can take it from here, each of you has been assigned a partner, for the first lesson we will be focusing on convergence between two people" Faragonda replied and Erasiel stayed silent; he heard Stella whispering among others about the potentials of group convergences, he noted Ayesha look left out of the conversation her partner was Musa. The class lasted for about an hour and afterwards Erasiel took the Winx aside.

"So Nathan how are the pixies doing and why did you want to wait until after class to talk about them?" Bloom asked as they left.

"A question which I will answer you; the Pixies are fine, but they are undergoing some treatments to make sure any lasting effects of the home sickness spell are out of their system, I've also seen to getting them some proper Pixie beds so they can get a lot of rest, also Ayesha while you are Piff's bonded fairy and one of many friends of her race she is still my daughter and as a father I've decided it's best she stay where I can keep an eye on her and that is with me in my room" Erasiel explained. "Other than that the Pixies need a lot of rest, and Palladium will keep an eye on them for the time being which is why Faragonda will be teaching his class for the rest of the week, now we have other things that need tending to and let's get going" Erasiel added then they continued to their other classes.

Later… Ayesha laid back against a tree sighing as Erasiel and Musa walked by holding hands. "Hey Ayesha, I wondered where you went, look if it's about the sleeping arrangements for Piff I'll be putting her back in your dorm soon but because she's my daughter I'm wanting to make sure I'm there is she needs me" Erasiel stated.

"No that's not it don't worry I know your concerned about Piff and she is your daughter and you have the right to be concerned about her well-being its just I don't know I feel left out about the whole convergence thing, I'm not exactly a long term member of your club, and if I'm going to be doing any convergences it will be with them; I just feel left out that's all" Ayesha explained.

"I can see that, well Francis and Selene are new members and you don't see them complaining; I'm sure you would have felt better to be partnered with Francis given she's your best friend but, Selene and Francis need the team building, also Diaspro and Mirta could use the challenge, I chose the teams because each will have to work with something that their not used to they then have to figure out how they can get past the differences in their magic talents and use their spells to create wonders, that's how I've taught numerous students; you and Musa will do good together" Erasiel explained, then kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence I'm feeling better now; you know we need to spend some time together" Ayesha noted, they had been dating since Erasiel saved her life from her fall and for all the things he had done in the meantime; their relationship was one of strength.

"Alright well let's sit down and chat" Erasiel stated and sat down next to Ayesha, Musa moved to give the two some space, they needed it.

As Musa moved about the courtyard she noted a windrider land outside, which was odd, she then noted a young man about the same age as herself he had fair skin, short blue hair, amber eyes, and was sporting an orange shirt, a dark olive colored pants and tan shoes. "Hey you're Musa right, I'm Jared, I was sent by Professor Saladin to study Alfea's simulator" the Specialist greeted.

"Alright hello Jared, how do you know my name?" Musa asked suspicious.

"Oh, Riven told me about you, she said you were a friend of hers also everyone's heard of the Winx and we fought alongside each other in the Battle for Magix" Jared asked.

"Ok, figures; just so you know though I'm not single, I have a boyfriend who I deeply love so consider us just friends" Musa replied, Jared looked saddened by this but quickly recovered.

"Alright I see, well I brought these for you" Jared stated going back to his Windrider and bringing back a bouquet of roses.

"Thanks that's sweet, now I'll show you to the simulator" Musa stated and led Jared off, unaware she was being watched.

"Interesting I think I could make use of this" Lesta thought to herself, she then followed them at a distance.

Musa showed Jared the ropes around the simulator, despite not being the most tech savvy of the Winx she knew her way around the simulator, due to a fair sheer of tests that she had to take last year regarding it, including Bloom's famous test, which she attempted last week as training for the Magic Tournament and got her butt kicked by Darcy in the process, fortunately the simulation was just that; it really did help though. After showing him the ropes Jared did something unexpected and gave her a peck on the cheek, it was unexpected, but Musa was wiling to let it slid as a show of thanks. "Just remember there are multiple factors involved, this simulator is state of the art and can pretty much simulate any scenario but each requires different varibles, all scenarios are based on letter combinations, don't input any numbers or it will draw a blank and ask you to try again" Musa stated.

"Thanks for your help Musa, I'm going to run a private simulation, I'll see you after its done" Jared stated.

"Alright well I'm going to get back to Nathan and Ayesha, they're probably done talking by now so bye" Musa stated and left Jared to his own devices.

"Anything can be simulated" Jared thought to himself. "Well if I can't have her in real life I guess I'll have to be satisfied with a simulation, that Nathan is a lucky guy to have her as a girlfriend" he continued mentally, then imputed a series of letter combinations until he found the simulation he wanted, unknown to him he was being observed by a certain person who was interested in him for her own devices.

Shortly… Jared entered the simulator chamber and strapped on the relevant gear and entered a virtual world; the place of a moonlit beach materlized with no one save one person, Musa, a virtual copy of her, in a red bikini with golden trim in Chinese pattern, Jared himself wore a swimsuit, Musa had a bottle of wine. "Come here Jared its time to celebrate our one-year aniversery" Virtual Musa stated, Jared walked over, she poured him a glass of wine and herself one, the virtual wine actually tasted very good as the simulator simulated taste among other things, they drank and made small talk. As soon as the bottle was emptied things changed, Musa looked at him with keen eyes. "You know there was one thing about our wedding I loved most, our honeymoon why don't we reenact it" Virtual Musa stated then removed her top exposing her perky D-cup breasts. That was all the invitation Jared needed and removed the simulated shorts allowing his 9 inch boner to go free, she responded by wrapping her breasts around it and sucked it with such grace, Jared was in heaven, or virtual heaven. She sucked and licked his member with skill and grace knowing how to work her tongue Jared moaned in pleasure, this simulation was everything he wanted, if he couldn't have the real Musa at least he had this virtual one, granted the real trick would be getting a way to transfer the simulation to a disc so he could upload it to a VR headset, then keeping said simulation hidden from anyone who would want to beat the living crap out of him for making it in the first place, especially a certain Phoenix and Fairy couple who wouldn't be a amused by it well the real Musa mainly Erasiel would just laugh and let him keep it but he didn't know that. He soon reached his virgin limit and creamed the virtual face of Musa, fortunately this was virtual only his real body didn't have any of the effects on the outside.

Lesta observed the whole thing from outside via the central computer having the locked the door behind her to prevent anyone asking questions and requiring her to hex them. "Interesting he's got an massive crush on Musa, I'm betting that he made up the whole Saladin story as an excuse just to do this; this is spicy and useful, perhaps I can make use of him somehow" Lesta thought, then noted the two had stripped completely and were about to enter.

In the simulation… "So tight" Jared stated as he entered Musa missionary style, he then kissed her virtual lips, before sucking on her virtual nipple the simulated milk was great, he had made all the right calculations, making sure he could get the most out of his simulated experience, also he had the whole thing ready for upload to disc that he had for this whole thing, his plan had been this mainly he had hoped he could score a date with the real Musa but he knew for a fact that was never going to happen especially with the master cock-blocker that was Erasiel Darkar involved, he didn't know that Musa and him never actually had sex before though, Erasiel was the person who let a relationship go at its own pace he didn't rush anyone into a sexual relationship if they didn't want to, of course if they wanted to he didn't turn them down unless they were of royal birth simply because of the political backlash that would happen as Erasiel was the type of person who didn't want to let his personal passions override his common sense unless the Princess in question was so desperate and wanted it so badly that there was no rejecting her. Jared however didn't need to concern himself with Erasiel, he did know that a virtual wife was not going to work out in the long run; but he did have a plan to eventually save up enough money to get a custom Musa android built, the kind capable of bearing children and loving him, and there was the possibility of him getting another love interest but really no girl would fill his desires for Musa.

Lesta left the simulator and turned off the visual screen and left to think of a plan, she then teleported to Red Fountain and assumed the guise of specialist girl, then snuck into Jared's room after finding it and noted the surprising amount of pictures of Musa, as well as a number of love poems, and other things, as well as a personal flute of the same brand as Musa's and a number of other things before leaving and taking a flight over the forests to think of a plan showing her true form as Viridia. "This could be interesting, now what to do? Create a love potion and give it to Musa? No too difficult to actually get Musa to drink it and not a guarantee also that wouldn't help my plans remotely, turn him into a toad, no not helpful, I'm running out of ideas, wait there may be something, I guess for the time being I could mind control him but how to pull that off?" Viridia thought to herself. "Wait I know exactly what to do, I'll craft a necklace for the purpose of controlling him that should work" Viridia thought then smirked, she then took off to Shadowhaunt explained the situation to her father and went to go get the nessecary components required for the construction, after an hour with the enchanting table she created a necklace, it was simplistic with the center point being a dark purple crystal infused with the energy of a Red Beholder's eye, allowing for mind control, she then returned to Alfea dawning a new guise before leaving. The guise resembled Darcy in appearance with same hair and eyes she wore an outfit consisting of a red shawl worn over a pale blue ruffled blouse that bears her midriff, a long brown skirt and sandals. She also wore an abundance of jewelry, from the small headband with a diamond hanging at the center to her large hoop earrings to various gold necklaces, bracelets and belts. Her makeup also consisted of lilac-colored eyeshadow with some covering her cheeks at the sides of her face and bold red lipstick, while her hair was pinned up more slightly, as it now flowed down to her buttocks rather than to the backs of her knees. She was now Akiri, a trader in magical artifacts with a cart of said artifacts pilfered from Shadowhaunt's treasury.

Jared walked out to his Windrider and noticed a merchant who hadn't been there when arrived, he was smitten by her beauty and had to ask her questions. "Excuse me who are you" Jared asked presently.

"Oh I'm Akiri, I'm a traveling merchant who sells charms and an artifacts I've found in my travels care to browse my wares?" Akiri greeted.

"Yes; I was wondering do you have anything that involves love magic?" Jared asked hoping beyond hope.

"I regret to inform you no, but I have something that may help, a good luck charm; it will give you good fortune and allow you to find love" Akiri explained fishing out the necklace.

"I'll take it how much" Jared asked fishing out his wallet.

"About 20 bucks" Akiri answered, then handed him the necklace as he handed her the money. Suddenly she held the necklace up and Jared was mezmorized by it and he put it on, his eyes faded to purple hypnotic circles. "Good you are now under my control; for the moment I have no need of your services but I will commune with you when the time comes for now return to Red Fountain and act as normal when I have need of your service I will call on you" Akiri noted, Jared's eyes returned to normal. "Wait I have need of your service for one thing: Follow me" Akiri responded, and Jared followed her off into the forest, she dismissed the cart back to Shadowhaunt and she took him to nearby grove that she had found in her own time and thought would be perfect for private times. "You know I pity you, that you will never have the girl you love, I think you as a virgin deserve real pleasure, I have need of a learning experience for my future broodmate when I find one; so strip" Akiri ordered and Jared removed his clothing. "And mine as well" Akiri added and he relieved her of her gypsy clothing, Jared recovered momentarily as she kissed him. "Shush, its alright don't question it you deserve some pleasure; give me everything you wanted to give Musa" she reassured and he returned to her control; she then spread her legs and examined him, his boner was the exact size as in the simulator, she couldn't help but wonder how he would fit in her, granted she was a virgin and didn't really care she was giving her maidenhood to a man that wasn't going to be her mate, but she needed experience in her mind and Jared was too much of a hottie to pass up as far she was concerned, he entered her, not causing her pain as her barrier snapped in spite of the blood, she smirked and kissed him as he took her missionary style, a certain faceless who was on his way back from a flight over the woods caught sight of the matter and watched it, granted Gripmaw was a perv when he wanted to be but never to Erasiel because he respected his lord too much to spy on his escapades but anyone else's was fair game. Akiri moaned as Jared did as she ordered, it was something she had never experienced in her nine centuries of life, granted given time she would suicide this incarnation for her second one so that her broodmate didn't suspect a thing and to gain his trust; she had her own agenda a certain Phoenix had caught her eye and she intended to make him hers regardless of what her father thought; but she wanted to be prepared for her love with skill, and so far Jared was proving to be a worthy person involved, eventually being a virgin he reached his limit and he and her tumbled for about an hour before she rolled over satisfied and kissed him.

Back at Alfea… "Look who woke up from her nap, are you filling better?" Erasiel stated to a happy Piff. "Who's a sweet girl you are, you are, I love you" Erasiel stated tickling her and she giggled.

"Da-Da" Piff stated, Erasiel picked her up.

"Yes it's me your da-da, I love you my sweet little pixie princess you're so sweet" Erasiel stated, the door to his office opened and Bloom walked in. "Oh hi Bloom what is it?" Erasiel greeted.

"Nathan nice to see Piff's doing better, I'm glad to see her so happy" Bloom stated.

"Yes she is, who's a sweet little pixie girl you are, you are" Erasiel baby talked to Piff who giggled as he kissed her cheeks. "So you needed something?" Erasiel asked.

"Yes in fact, I need help with the whole convergence thing, Stella and I are having problems with the magic, Light and Fire magic have trouble interacting" Bloom stated.

"Did you start any fires?" Erasiel asked.

"No, but we've so far been unable to find a combination that works" Bloom stated.

"Alright then lets look at this from a perspective, what do Light and Fire magic have in common?" Erasiel asked.

"They both bring heat" Bloom stated.

"Yes that's one, the also can't exist without the other, even a lightbulb generates sparks of flame, a star is a burning ball of fire, a campfire gives off light that pushes back the darkness, in short they are two sides of the same coin, they are inseperable, Bloom think of where your power comes from, it comes from the Eternal Flame, Stella's comes from Soloria's three suns which are Eterna Stars, an Eterna Star burns with the Eternal Flame it will never burn out and die like a normal Star, Magix orbits an Eterna Star, in a way Bloom Stella's magic comes from the same source as yours the only difference is the type, Light and fire magic have many things in common, they can burn foes, strength weapons and arms as well as the caster and their allies, but they are also capable of healing, albiet thru different means; Bloom you and Stella have a lot in common in terms of magic, the problem you actually have is that you and Stella have problems seeing eye to eye" Erasiel explained.

"How? We're best friends?" Bloom stated surprise.

"Just because your friends doesn't mean you agree on everything, however to form a convergence you must both agree to put aside your differences and unite as one to pool your magic; in a way Bloom you are quite lucky to have been brought up the way you were, Stella's spent her entire life as royal where as you spent your life a normal human girl, I pity your innocence Bloom; I've seen the worst the multiverse has to offer but also the best; trust me Bloom if you and Stella are unified in purpose you'll be able to form a convergence but until you are able to do that you won't succeed; at the moment you have much to learn about magic and are still innocent to the dangers inherent in magic, but you are a growing young women who's nearly an adult you aren't a kid anymore in order to truly achieve unity you'll need to leave behind your previous views and take a broader view on life" Erasiel explained.

"I see, thanks for your advice I'll see if I can explain it to Stella; question though how naïve do your think I am" Bloom asked.

"Sharper then you look but have much to learn, you aren't as innocent as sweet little Piff but you're a near the age where you will be fully required to start thinking more broadly, you've got a future ahead of you, once you've finished this year and mastered Charmix you'll be moving onto Enchantix which is a Fairy's true coming of age power, then you'll be made a Guardian fairy of your homeworld, then you'll go beyond, there are many adventures ahead" Erasiel stated, Piff giggled.

"Home is behind, the world ahead; and there are many paths to tread. Thru shadow to the Edge of Night! Until the Stars are all alight, Mist and Shadow Cloud and Flame All Shall fade, All shall fade" Bloom sung, Piff giggled with joy.

"A worthy song for the moment, now go and do your best Bloom, You'll be tested soon in the simulator, by the end of the week" Erasiel explained.

"What?!" Bloom exclaimed.

"Yes there is a test don't worry it won't count against your grade if you fail" Erasiel reassured, Bloom turned to leave. "Who's a sweet baby girl? You are! You ARE!" Erasiel baby-talked to Piff as he tickled her face.

"Hungy" Piff stated, Erasiel frowned.

"Hey Bloom, could you do something for me?" Erasiel asked.

"Yes" Bloom replied.

"I need someone to nurse Piff, she's still nursing until her teeth grow in, so could you nurse her for me? If not I'll have Faragonda or Griselda do it for me" Erasiel asked.

"I'll do it, it's the least I can do for you after all you've done for me" Bloom stated then picked up Piff and took a seat in a cushioned chair, she lifted up her shirt to one side and allowed Piff to nurse; something Bloom never experienced before. "You know one of these day's I'll have kids of my own so this is good practice; my mother taught me its healthier for baby's to nurse developing then standerd milk" Bloom explained

"It's even more important with Pixies; it actually accelerates their slow growth, Pixies take longer to grow then you think, usually it can take them 300 years to reach adulthood; Piff's only six months in Pixie years but is 60 in Earth years" Erasiel explained.

"Wow that's a shocker, so are there any male pixies?" Bloom asked.

"Nope, they are a female exclusive species, new pixies come into existance either by breeding with non-pixies or by the Flower of New Life at the foot of the Tree of Life" Erasiel explained.

"How does the first one work if they're so small?" Bloom asked.

"Like this" Zing replied having woken up from her nap, she turned into a human form or rather elven as she had the pointed-ears of an elf, her outfit was the same but she was busty and brawny, her attire was the same as usual.

"So you can turn into human sized Pixies?" Bloom asked shocked.

"Yep" Zing stated and hugged Erasiel.

A Few days later… Faragonda once again was in front of the class. "Students I've noticed the lack of developments on the Convergence studies, the issue you're all having is that you aren't on the same page as your partner, you have to fully agree and commit without argument otherwise the spell won't work at all then you have to stay focused on the magic or face the backlash from the magic failure" Faragonda explained. "In the wake however of this we will be having a test tomorrow, in which multiple Faeries will work together to find harmony in themselves; this test was not originally going to be graded but having gone thru it in my head I've decided that it will be and will count for 10% of your overall grade" she added, to the shock of everyone in the room, even Erasiel.

"You can't do that" Erasiel replied.

"I can and I will, this is an important skill in magic that is required for future courses and transformations, to encourage focus and unity I do believe it will encourage performance" Faragonda stated.

"I see your logic, but I'm protesting this" Erasiel stated.

"Well now that I've got your dandruff up Erasiel what are you going to do about it" Faragonda stated with a smile.

"Well- you're right, I could override it as Head of the Wizard's Council but given that this will make the students preform better in the long-run I will allow this, but it will only counter for the quarter grade not for the yearlong grade: I'm not having students held back because of your rushing them" Erasiel decided.

"Deal" Faragonda stated.

The class continued and a certain disguised Phoenix smirked, this could provide an opportunity to remove the Winx from the picture and allow her father to have less enemies to worry about. "This is too perfect an opportunity to pass up, and I know just the person to take care of the sabotage" Viridia thought to herself and smirked.

"Hey Lesta what's got you happy" Eleanor stated.

"Oh just that I've met the hottest guy" Viridia replied.

"Oh tell me the scoop I have to know" Eleanor asked.

"I'll give you a hint, he's handsome, got an exotic hair color and on top of it he's always around Alfea and he knows his way around the ladies" Viridia explained.

"It's Professor Darkar, I now how you feel, I feel the same way, I just don't know how to approach him" Eleanor explained.

"I see, well there's always the direct approach make small talk and ask him about himself maybe you'll have a shot with him; me I'll just ambush him and ask him what he thinks of me" Viridia replied.

"Wow you're bold, what happened to the shy Lesta I knew growing up" Eleanor stated.

"Easy Love drives you to do crazy things, and it is driving me to be more bold with my feelings" Viridia answered.

"Hey whats all that chatter about back there?" Faragonda asked knowing full well what they were talking about due to her sharp elven hearing, Erasiel also heard of conversation and was smirking.

"Let the ladies throw themselves at me" Erasiel thought to himself.

"Anyway let us continue" Faragonda stated then continued her lesson, 10 minutes later the bell rang and Erasiel floated off with Zing and Livy following him as he held Piff in his arms.

"Sweet baby girl, I love you! I love you!" Erasiel cooed to Piff who giggled as he tickled her neck with a free finger, she wore a frilly baby dress and in place of her bonnet she wore a circlet of silver decorated with tiny garnets and roses. "My sweet little Princess" Erasiel cooed.

"Da Da" Piff said.

"You're such a caring father" Musa commented.

"I know I am, I love my children all of them dearly; especially when they're infants they so cute and adorable and require so much love and attention, don't you Piff" Erasiel replied tickling Piff who giggled.

"I hope that I can have kids too some day" Musa stated solemnly.

"We'll have them, don't worry Musa, just take our relationship at the pace you want to we have all the time in the world; until then I'll still be having kids" Erasiel replied.

"So how much time and effort do you spend with your kids" Musa stated.

"To be honest Musa: Not enough, I wish I could spend centuries playing with my children, but I only have so much time" Erasiel replied.

"I see, well how do you keep up with them all, you must have a lot of them" Musa replied.

"You have no idea, mainly thru Faceless and thru copies of myself, these copies are reflections of myself so am able to be in many places at once" Erasiel stated, Piff started to dose off.

"That's interesting, so how do you tell the genuine article from a copy" Musa asked.

"Easy, the genuine article is always where the action is happening, and right now that's here on Magix" Erasiel explained.

"She's so sweet, you are lucky to have such a wonderful daughter" Flora remarked catching up to them. "Can I hold her?" Flora asked.

"What do you think Piff?" Erasiel askded.

"No-no I want nappy" Piff groaned before falling asleep.

"Sorry Flora, but Piff needs her naps, I'll take her back to her pixie cradle and then catch up to you and the others in Avalon's class, let my cousin know I'll be a bit late" Erasiel replied, then walked in the direction of his office.

Meanwhile…. As the students were at their classes Viridia's mind controlled servant took control of the simulator, Jared's private simulation had been uploaded into a data disk and wiped from the records of the simulator, he then made the modifications to the simulation for the Convergence test and inserted a virus designed by Viridia to trap anyone inside the simulator, any attempt to remove the simulator gear would result in a lethal dose of microwaves; the only way out was to defeat the simulation; after extensive modifications and making sure that only the Convergence test was affected, Jared left the simulator and stealthily left the campus.

That Friday…. A weeks worth of training in the principles of Convergence Magic and the Winx were ready for the test, along with a number of others; for the test each group was divided by dorm; with the Winx in their entirety paired up being the exception; Mirta and those in her dorm would take the test after them; followed by each other dorm in order. "Students this a rather complex simulation and I express my gratitude to Professor Paladium for his efforts, also we have some guests from Red Fountain and Cloud Tower as well Councilmen Yerka, Givelian and Saphrax and Council Woman Irietta from the Wizard's Council's committee on magical academies here to observe, myself included in their ranks; as the rank teacher of this class and Head of the Wizard's Council I am proud to recognize the Heroes of Magix the Winx as the first students to be tested; truly this will be interesting" Erasiel stated then joined his sister and the other council members in observation status.

"Quite, as Headmistress I am pleased to announce that the testing will be the only class today, as soon as a group finishes testing they are free to do as the want with the rest of their day and their weekend, we will be grading on a standard of success of the Convergence, each group with get ten tries to attempt a successful convergence, the most successful convergence will be the graded on" Faragonda explained.

"The Simulator is the latest on upgrades and I've checked the simulation in advance there is no flaws with it" Palladium stated, granted the last time he had checked was two days ago before it had been sabotaged by Jared.

"I hope so it would be a scar on Alfea's reputation if anything were to go wrong" Givelian remarked.

"Please Givelian we both know Palladium is an expert with thessse mattersss; he'sss been doing this tessst for 800 yearsss now" Saphrax stated, he was tall Red-scaled lizardman with a pronounced crest on his head and clad in robes befitting his stature and species, the robes were dark blue-green and silver threaded, he also wore a diadem of polished crystal and held a reptilian staff in his hands topped with a polished stone of memory on it.

"I am confident in his abilities; now let's begin, Winx to the simulator and begin your test" Erasiel instructed, and the Winx followed his direction heading to separate simulator chambers which happened to be all the available ones.

The simulation loaded up to a bleak environment of dark swamps and rotting trees; something which Erasiel and Palladium were surprised by as they had chosen a more pleasant village with a number of puzzles requiring convergences to solve. "This is unusual" Bloom remarked.

"Yes I thought this would be on more even ground" Flora replied, frowning at the dark environment.

"This isn't the test realm" Erasiel remarked. "Someone's messed with the simulator Palladium what's going on?" Erasiel inquired.

"I'm not sure, I can't control any of the simulator's functions, it's a virus that has full control" Palladium stated.

"Virus?! That can only mean one thing Abolithon somehow managed to sabotage the simulator, get them out of this nightmare" Erasiel replied.

"I cannot, in addition to the virus having control of most of the systems there has been tampering with other equipment, if I were to disconnect them from the system now the equipment will send out a burst of microwaves that will fry their brains" Palladium replied.

"Thiss isss an outrage! How hasss thisss been ssabotaged ssoo easssily?!" Saphrax questioned.

"I am not sure, Palladium is there a way for them to get out of the Simulation?" Erasiel replied.

"There is, should they manage to defeat the scenario presented to them the simulation will end and they'll be let out" Palladium stated.

"Run a check for any other viruses" Erasiel ordered.

"I'm unable to do so, the anti-virus and virus detection/indentifaction software has been complete neutered, there is no was for me check for any other things beyond those present in the simulation that we can see" Palladium replied.

"Great now is there anything we can do?" Erasiel asked.

"Yes we can communicate remotely, also there is another simulator chamber perhaps you can enter the simulation and help them" Palladium stated.

"I'll do that, at least I'll come back if I die, Faragonda this test isn't being graded after all, in fact I think the testing is postponed as this is a matter of survival now" Erasiel stated then bolted to the empty chamber and inserted himself into the simulator.

"This is beyond crazy, this swamp is completely getting into my shoes" Stella remarked.

"At least this is a simulation Stella and your real shoes are fine" Selene commented.

"Please girls lets stay focused, we have to find a way out of this place" Bloom stated.

"Well it's not going to be easy" Erasiel stated showing up.

"What are you doing here?" Musa asked.

"Test is off you aren't getting graded on this, in fact this isn't the test at all this is all Abolithon's doing, this is a highly complex virus that has created an entirely unique simulation designed as a trap, I have no idea how Abolithon managed to pull this off but I have a good idea that if we defeat the virus that controls this simulated world we should be able to escape" Erasiel explained.

"Can't we just exit the simulator manually" Flora asked.

"No, in addition to this virus the saboteur rigged the equipment to send out a lethel dose of microwaves to your brains if we tried to remove the equipment the only way out is to destroy the virus allowing us to get out" Erasiel explained.

"You're risking your life to save us?" Diaspro questioned.

"Of course I am, that's what love is all about, risking your lives to protect those you hold dear" Erasiel replied, she then kissed him.

"Alright Winx lets get up in the air and form a diamond formation that way we can't be flanked then we'll find the source of this problem" Erasiel explained.

"Winx! Charmix!" Bloom yelled. (It's the Power of Charmix! Your magical light! The Power of Charmix and you will shine bright! Spread your Wings and fly light it up the Sky its easy if you try!) "Bloom Fairy of the Dragon Flame!" Bloom proclaimed as fire danced around her.

"Flora: Fairy of Nature!" Flora proclaimed as flowers grew where she danced. (If you want to go far never give up on your dreams because you know you're wonderful! Just the Way you are! Deep inside your heart theirs the power of a Winx! Just close your eyes and let it shine!)

"Stella: fairy of the Shining sun" Stella proclaimed as light shined from her.

"Musa Fairy of Music" Musa Proclaimed with rhythm in her movements. (It's the Power of Charmix! Your magical light! The Power of Charmix and you will shine bright! Spread your Wings and fly light it up the Sky its easy if you try!)

"Tecna: Fairy of Technology" Tecna proclaimed her suit pure tech forming on her. (Everyday on the edge! You know what you've got to do: just give your best and you will see you'll never be unknown! We are all for One! Burning Brighter then the Sun! Just open your heart and we will shine!)

"Ayesha Fairy of waves!" Ayesha proclaimed as bubbles popped around her

"Diaspro! Princess! Fairy of Gemstones!" Diaspro proclaimed as gems surrounded her in a spinning circle. (It's the Power of Charmix! Your magical light! The Power of Charmix and you will shine bright! Spread your Wings and fly light it up the Sky its easy if you try!)

"Francis Fairy of Laughter!" Francis declared as bells jingled from her hat.

"Selene fairy of Metal" Selene declared golden armor plates surrounding her body in a dress of metel as her hair was tied by metal beads. (This is what you are and now we can do anything! Now that you're a powered up Fairy! Irresistible! You will be the star come fly with the Winx!)

"Erasiel: Pheonix of order, Regal Relix Armor!" Erasiel proclaimed his articulated interlocking plate armor materialized around him as he put down his battle mask. (It's the Power of Charmix! Your magical light! The Power of Charmix and you will shine bright! Spread your Wings and fly light it up the Sky its easy if you try! It's the Power of Charmix!)

"Alright Winx diamond formation!" Erasiel ordered in a metallic voice, they formed a diamond flight pattern and flew over the boggy swamp. "Alright lets see what we can see" Erasiel noted and the Winx noted.

"There I see something moving down there and it's big" Selene declared, noting a giant menancing purple hided creature plowing over trees.

"Alright we don't know what this is capable of so we'll launch a probing attack, Diaspro you Selene and Flora will get his attention and hit him with some standard attacks, the rest of us will flank him and launch additional attacks" Erasiel stated. "Bloom you and Musa are with me, everyone else teams of three go!" Erasiel stated.

They dived toward the enemy, it was hulking beast of shadows which seemed to be shifting. "Hey ugly your mother was a troll and your father was a Trogalydon!" Diaspro taunted, the monster screamed and turned in the form of large wolf. "AAAGH DOG! Admant blast!" Diaspro screamed as several diamond shards impacted monster which brushed them aside.

"Leaden shards!" Selene casted and bullets materialized from her palms and barraged the creature which shrugged them off.

"Roots! Bind the Monster fast!" Flora casted and tangling vines wrapped the creature which changed shape again into a crab-like creature with multiple pincers.

"Sonic Boom!" Musa casted as sound waves tormented the creature ears.

"Fireball!" Bloom casted, a massive fireball struck home but did minimul damage.

"Laser-pulse Attack!" Tecna casted a barrage of lasers blasted the shell of the creature.

"Joy Blast!" Francis casted as zap of electricity hit the creature for minamul effect.

"Morphix blast!" Ayesha casted and Morphix plasma liquefied one of the claws which grew back near instantly.

"Sun Ray!" Stella casted blinding the creature with light.

"Alright ladies here's the big leagues: Comet of Cassodora!" Erasiel casted and sky opened up and large blue comet crashed into the creature the force of which pulverized it, however as they celebrated the shadowy purple tendrals rematerialized into a new form of a great wyvern.

"Standard attacks aren't working!" Bloom stated.

"Yes they aren't heck I've never seen something tank a Comet of Cassadora: Tecna preform a scan" Erasiel remarked.

"Scanning, the creature appears to be made out of dark magic, the energy is absurd we're talking serious levels of regenartion and magic, but this thing has a weak spot, the Comet nearly vaporized it if we can launch a combined convergence attack this creature would be destroyed" Tecna stated.

"Too risky we need another option!" Erasiel stated extending the Glaive from his staff and proceeding to attack the creature with it.

"Let me think; it's full of dark chaotic energy if we were combat it with some sort of purifying orderly light this thing would die, perhaps a creature of the opposite can do it" Tecna speculated.

"Tecna that's it: if we combine our powers we can make such a creature: I'll delay him the rest of you break out the fusion spells you learned in Professer Kalshara's class last week" Erasiel ordered as he continued his attack. "Try this on for size: Arcane Unforging!" Erasiel casted parts of the creature braking off but healing at the same pace, overall the creature was becoming more unstable Erasiel then cleaved off one of the wings and sent it cratering in the ground.

Erasiel then flew over to the Winx who were forging a titan. "Adament hide!" Diaspro casted, as diamonds materialized on the titan which was humanoid but was a hodgepodge of the various magical components that made it up.

"Now for the final touch: Ordered form!" Erasiel casted and the titan turned from a hodgepodge to a glowing Titan of beauty and power. "Mental link" Erasiel casted.

"Who are you and who am I" the Titan questioned.

"You are a Titan of Order, a creature of Darkness Chaos threatens this world we have bestowed a great amount of our power into you, banish this evil from sight" Erasiel explained, the Titan nodded and charged towards the monster which had taken the form of five headed dragon.

"You have no place is this world: Creature of Darkness" the Titan proclaimed as sent a cascade of raw magic into the creature. "Return to the void from which you came!" The Titan declared. "Ruination of Cities!" The Titan casted and massive blast of energy vaporized both of them out of existance, the simulation faded away and all the Winx woke up in the actual world.

Erasiel walked in to find Faragonda with a bound Jared and the rest of the audience in concern. Suddenly a claxon yelled. "Simulator overload, core fusion reactor compromised evacuate immediately" a computer declared everyone poured out and shortly afterword the Simulator exploded in a great blast which was stopped in it's path by a wall of magic; Erasiel, Faragonda, Givelian, Yerka and Saphrax held back the nuclear blast in an orb of magic and sent the energy and radiation into space.

"Testing canceled for the next month and half until we can replace the simulator" Faragonda stated trying to keep a straight face.

"We don't blame your for this" Erasiel stated. "Whoever's responsible will get it though" Erasiel stated then turned to the bond Jared. Erasiel then noticed something in his eyes and the necklace he wore. "He isn't responsible for this, not of his own free will: Varta Icarna Vos!" Erasiel casted and shadow flew out him and the necklace shattered.

"What happened" Jared asked. "Last thing I remember I was talking to this merchant girl next thing I remember I'm here" Jared explained lucidly.

"I think we know what happened now, one of Abolithon's spies must have made this necklace and allowed Abolithon to control him: this is bad" Erasiel stated.

"Very much so, it means security has become more important" Palladium stated.

"Head Counciler Erasiel, I recommend a new security act be put up to a vote in the Council in an emergency session" Givelian stated.

"I agree, Saphrax send out a call to the council tell them an emergency meeting, Givelian you and Yerka draft a starter bill for the security measures, we'll make ammendments as needed before a full floor vote" Erasiel ordered.

"Now what?" Bloom asked.

"This will be Council Business from this point; as to Jared, no charges will be pressed and the simulator, call a student body council from all three new features and suggestions, in addition to the security bill we will be funding a project upgrade all three school simulators to the best designs, also on top of that Palladium made a copy of the test I want our best tech experts to dissect this virus for future reference and develop new counter-measures for it" Erasiel explained.

"Hey I'm sorry for all this" Jared apologized.

"Don't be you were mind-controlled, you were not able to control your actions; don't worry there won't be a scratch on your school record when this is all over, I won't even mention you to the media" Erasiel stated as he left with the other council members, unaware a certain Pheonix was watching them from the audience.

"Soon Erasiel soon, you may have foiled this plan but I have many more up my sleeve" Viridia stated and smiled.


End file.
